


Super Fighting Roll

by ExoZadakh



Category: Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Gen, Roll-Reversal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21822124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExoZadakh/pseuds/ExoZadakh
Summary: Dr. Wily schemes to take over the world!  In order to stop him, a humble helper robot volunteers to be weaponized—but what if a different robot stepped forward this time?  A Roll-Reversal AU.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. Fight 1-1

“Dr. Light!” Rock called. “Where do you want this crate?”

The old scientist poked his head around the corner, answering, “Which…ah, yes! Take it to storage room 3. I’ll need to remember where those parts are for my next experiment.”

“Got it!” With a heave, Rock lifted the large metal crate over his head and made his way toward the staircase.

“Now let’s see,” Light murmured as he walked down the hall, “where did I leave that duster? I had it just a moment ago…”

Something gently poked him in the arm. Turning, he was met with a bespectacled woman in a lab coat brandishing the tool in question at him, saying, “Looking for this?”

“There it is! Thank you, Noele!”

Handing it over, LaLinde said, “You’re in more trouble than I thought. It looks like you haven’t properly organized this place in a month—how are you planning to get it clean by tomorrow?”

“Haha, I suppose I don’t have much of a plan,” Light said as he got to work. “We’ve been so busy with the press and final preparations that we haven’t had a chance to do much cleaning. But I don’t want anyone thinking I live in a dump!”

“You’re hardly the first eccentric scientist to live in an organized mess. There’s no need to be so self-conscious, Thomas.”

Rock returned to the living room, already searching for a new task. Through the door walked a brown-haired girl in a green dress, carrying a rusted toolbox in each hand; he stopped and asked, “Do you need any help, Tempo?”

She didn’t stop or turn, continuing straight ahead with a blank look on her face. “Negative. Situation under control.”

Rock scratched his head as he stared after her. LaLinde looked from him to Tempo to Light, noticing that the other scientist’s dusting had slowed considerably.

“…It’s killing you not to say something, isn’t it?” she said quietly.

Light smiled at her. “You came to help me out of a tight spot, Noele. I’m not so rude as to use the chance to criticize you.”

LaLinde nodded. “Right…where’s your broom? The lab floor needs swept up.”

“Roll was using it last. Roll?”

“In here!” came a reply from the end of the hall.

Light followed the voice to its source, ending up in a large closet containing countless stacks of boxes. Roll knelt next to one on the floor, picking up the items that were strewn about to place inside of it; Rush stood on the opposite side of the container, helping as best he could, though there wasn’t much the robotic canine could get a good grip on with his teeth.

“A box had fallen and broken open—must have happened some time while we were out,” Roll explained. “I’ve almost got it back together!”

“Splendid! Say, could you tell me where the broom is?”

“I left it in the kitchen! It should be right beside the fridge.”

“Thank you, my dear!”

As he turned to leave, he heard Roll hum in confusion. “Huh. What’s this?”

Light looked back to see what she had. It was a rectangular device roughly the size of a tablet, made of black metal and adorned with two large gears—one red, one blue. The doctor paused for a very long moment before walking over.

“Oh,” he said as he took the item, “I haven’t seen this in years…this was made by an old friend of mine, during our college days. I forgot about it completely.”

Roll stood up, carefully examining the device. “What does it do, Dr. Light?”

“It was designed to vastly increase a robot’s abilities. With this system installed, their strength and speed could be amplified well beyond their normal limitations, enabling them to complete far more difficult tasks with ease.”

“Wow! That sounds really useful!”

Light sighed. “Well, perhaps…but putting so much stress on a robot is very dangerous. Every robot who tested this system tore their own body apart in the process. I begged him to reconsider what he was doing, but he wouldn’t listen: he only cared about increasing a robot’s output, not what condition they wound up in.”

“Oh…that’s terrible. You were friends with someone like that?”

Chuckling, Light handed the device back to Roll. “There was a time we were friends. But because of this, we had quite the falling out. I’ve tried to get back in touch with him over the years, but it seems he’s still not interested in patching things up.”

Roll turned the device over, saying, “Do you really want to keep this? Doesn’t it just bring up bad memories?”

“I believe it’s still important to remember them just the same. Or, perhaps I’m just a sentimental old fool who’s too reluctant to part with anything, ha ha ha…”

Roll smiled. She placed the device inside the box, closed it, and put it away, and then ran out into the hall with Rush on her heels. “I’ll go get the broom for you!”

Light shut the door behind him and began to look for LaLinde. As he passed the staircase, he caught a flash of movement, and so descended into the lab to find his friend surveying the room. Her gaze lingered on what occupied the center of the floor: six humanoid forms of varying builds and sizes, standing inactive in a single line. LaLinde pursed her lips as she stood before them.

“Robots made to think and act independently,” she said, “all about to be sent off on their own. Still not having any second thoughts?”

“None,” Light said, coming up beside her. “The Robot Masters are going to do a lot of good, all around the world. Maybe it won’t be easy, and maybe there are still risks, but I can’t stop now knowing how great a help they will be to humanity.”

LaLinde crossed her arms. “I don’t doubt that. We’ve both tested the model thoroughly, and I have every confidence these robots will be useful. I’m asking if you’ve altered their cognitive parameters.”

“I know. I haven’t.”

LaLinde slowly walked down the line, glancing over each robot she passed.

“If robots and humans are to coexist as true companions, then robots need identity. We can only truly help each other when we are all on equal footing.”

“Are you still sure this is best, after everything that’s happened? Identity, independence, emotions—they only compromise the Robot Masters’ ability to perform their jobs. Haven’t our prototypes proved that already?”

Light gave a sad smile. “It certainly has been hard…but Noele, despite everything, they’ve brought us so much joy, all of them! Isn’t that worth it?”

LaLinde hesitated. Ultimately, she adjusted her glasses and stated, “They’re robots, Thomas. Robots built to accomplish specific jobs. The efficiency at which they perform those jobs…that’s all that really matters.”

Frowning, Light looked over the robots, and then towards the equipment that ran up the nearest wall. To himself, he mumbled, “Albert used to say the same thing…”

“Dr. Light?” Roll called as she bounded down the stairs. “There you are! Here, I got the broom you asked for!”

“I’ll take that,” LaLinde said. “Thank you, Roll.”

“Of course!”

LaLinde set to work, and Roll grinned up at the line of Robot Masters.

“I can’t wait to wake them all up! They’re going to be so happy at their new jobs!”

“I hope so,” Light said, patting Roll on the head. “But we’ll have to wait just a little longer. I promised I’d have an official unveiling, and I don’t want any of them to wander off before then.”

“Really? Activating one or two to help us get the place cleaned might not be such a bad idea.”

Light stroked his beard as he considered this. It was at this point Rock appeared on the staircase, saying, “Dr. Light, we ran out of bleach! Should I run into town and get some?”

“Oh fiddlesticks,” Light said. “Yes, Rock, please do. Oh, come to think of it, we’re going to need some more window cleaner as well! And it might not be a bad idea to pick up a few tools while you’re out…”

“I have some shopping to do too,” Roll said. “Why don’t I go with him?”

“That’s an excellent idea!”

“Hey, can Tempo come too? An extra pair of hands to carry things would be nice.”

After thinking a moment, LaLinde nodded.

“Great! We’ll be back in a jiffy!”

“Take your time, kids,” Light said. “You’ve been working exceptionally hard—you deserve a break. We’ll keep at it in the meantime.”

Roll hurried back up the stairs, and when her party was assembled they exited the lab and started down the long road that led into the city.

“Ah, it’s good to get some fresh air!” Roll said. “It’s so nice out today!”

“I don’t know that ‘fresh air’ really does much when we don’t have lungs,” Rock said.

“Oh, hush. There’s still a psychological benefit! Right, Tempo?”

The other girl continued to stare forward blankly. “Working conditions irrelevant. On route to complete assigned task.”

Roll frowned, exchanging a look with Rock. Her attention was drawn away as Rush dashed off the path towards a bush; he stuck his head inside the shrub, sniffed around a bit, and then barked twice.

“What did you find, boy?” Roll asked as she went to join him. She pushed the branches aside to see a ball lying on the ground. “Oh, that’s where that got to. I was worried we’d lost it for good!”

As she picked it up, Rush shuffled back excitedly, his tail wagging at a rapid pace. Giggling, Roll threw the ball down the path, and Rush took off after it, barking happily as he went.

“I hope we’ll get to visit the other Robot Masters once they’re working,” Rock said. “Dr. Light wants to monitor them for a while, so maybe we’ll get more chances to play with them.”

“Hope so,” Roll said, “but those guys are programmed to be really serious about their work. Convincing them to play might be pretty tough.”

“Yeah, you might be right…”

Rush came scampering back, dropping the ball in Roll’s hand and then jumping back to see if she would throw it again. Roll reared back, but then paused; turning to Tempo, she offered the toy, saying, “Here, why don’t you try?”

Tempo took the ball and stared at it.

“Just give it a throw!”

She complied. Rush ran off again, and Tempo’s expression remained unchanged.

“…Well,” Rock said, “where should we go first when we get to town?”

“Probably the hardware store,” Roll said. “It’s right on the way in, and I doubt it’ll take long. Then we’ll see where to go from there.”

“Come to think of it, should we check the P.O. box while we’re here? Dr. Light didn’t mention it, but—“

“No, that’s good thinking! It’s probably stuffed already with letters about the Robot Masters, we should get a jump on sorting it.”

Rush bounded back up to them. Roll took the ball and prepared to throw, but suddenly the sound of an explosion cut through the air. Shock paralyzed her for a moment, and a hesitant fear swelled as she turned around. Light Labs could still be seen in the distance, but now, there was a thick column of smoke pouring out from it.

“Oh no…!”

They ran back as fast as they could. Slamming open the door, they found that the main house seemed to be intact, so the robots sped downstairs to the lab. What they saw was an entire wall completely reduced to rubble, the rest of the room in shambles; doctors Light and LaLinde lay on the floor, while a strange, saucer-like contraption floated in the air above them.

“What’s going on?” Roll shouted. “Dr. Light, are you okay?!”

“Hm?” came an unfamiliar voice. “What’s this? More of your lauded creations, Light?”

A hatch opened atop the saucer, and out popped an older man clad in a lab coat, sporting a gray mustache and hair that fell into two spiky messes separated by a large bald spot. As he grinned hideously at the scene, Light looked up and muttered, “Roll…Rock...be careful…”

Tempo took a step forward. “Dr. LaLinde, do you require assistance?”

“S-Stay back, Tempo!” LaLinde said, a frantic look in her eyes. “Don’t come any closer!”

“Hmph, so these are the prototypes, then?” the man said. “Not worth my time! The six I’ve already got loaded up will do quite nicely, I think! Nehehehehehe!”

Light began to push himself up. Rock and Roll moved to help him, but he held up a hand to stop them. “Please, Albert, don’t—“

“Don’t talk like we’re still friends, Light!” the man said, pounding his fist against the saucer. “It’s Wily! Dr. Wily! And it’s a name the world will at last come to fear and respect, once I show just how easily your precious, overpromoted Robot Masters can be bent to my will! Once I reprogram them, I’ll use them to—OW!”

His speech was cut off as a broom struck him in the head. Glaring forward, he spotted Roll standing there with a furious gaze of her own, the small robot saying, “You’ve got a lot of nerve! Why don’t you come down here and talk instead of hiding in that ridiculous car, you coward?”

“Hrm…seems your creations will vex me until the end,” Wily grumbled. “Well, I’ve got what I came for. You’ll be seeing your Robot Masters again very soon, Light…but they’ll be operating under a very different directive! Look forward to it!”

With a cackle, Wily retreated back into his saucer, and the vehicle rose into the sky and shot off into the distance. Rock and Roll went to Light’s side, while Tempo helped LaLinde to her feet; Rush was already busy circling the lab, using his built-in fire extinguisher to douse some equipment that had been set ablaze in Wily’s break-in.

“Who was that?” Rock asked. “Why did he take the Robot Masters?”

“Albert Wily…” Light said, looking very distant. “My old friend…how did it come to this?”

“There’s no time to lament, Thomas,” LaLinde said. “With the abilities those Robot Master wield, they could cause untold devastation—nothing the people can muster will be enough to stop them! We have to think of a counter-strategy, and _fast_!”

“Y-Yes, of course.” Light slowly stood up. “There must be something we can do… _something_ …but what could stop the Robot Masters? They were designed to be in a league all their own. Even the most deadly combat machine wouldn’t stand a chance…”

The doctors walked over to the side of the lab, beginning to take stock of what equipment was still functional. Roll stayed where she was for the moment, staring through the open wall and off in the direction Wily had gone.

“…What about another Robot Master?” she asked.

Light turned around. “Another…well, perhaps that _would_ be our best chance. Unfortunately, I sincerely doubt we have the time or resources to make a new Robot Master from scratch.”

“It doesn’t have to be a new one, though.”

“Hm? What do you mean, Roll?”

Roll faced him, saying, “I’m already functional. If you use me as a base, but modify me for combat, then I can go stop the others from hurting anyone!”

Light just stood there at first, gaping. Then, he started, saying, “Roll, what—what are you saying?! I can’t send you out there to fight the others! It’s much too dangerous! There’s no telling what could happen to you!”

“You said this was our best chance! If we don’t do anything, then Wily will be free to cause as much chaos as he wants, and we can’t just let that happen!”

LaLinde watched Light with concern, hugging Tempo close. “…It…would be an easy upgrade.”

Light whirled on her. “What?! Noele, you can’t seriously be considering this!”

“What other options do we have, Thomas? How else can we quickly produce a robot on the same level as the Masters Wily’s reprogramming as we speak? I know you don’t like it, but our circumstances are looking rather grim at the moment.”

He struggled to think of a reply. Turning back to Roll, he paused a moment, and then came forward and knelt down next to her.

“Roll,” he said. “If we do this, you’re going to have to fight…and potentially _destroy_ the other Robot Masters. Is that really something you’re prepared to do?”

Roll stopped to think, wanting to be sure of her answer. “I mean…of course I’d rather not have to fight them. They’re family, too. But Wily’s already taken them away—there’s no way to change that. Now, all I can do is stop him from using them to hurt people, and…” She looked up into Light’s eyes, her face set. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes. So please, Dr. Light: let me do this! I promise I’ll stop them all!”

Sadness emanated from Light as he took this in. But eventually, he hugged Roll, and said, “Alright. If you’re being so brave, then I will be too. Come on, Roll…let’s begin the process.”

***

The city was in shambles. Screams and sirens filled the air, punctuated by periodic explosions as people desperately ran for cover. In the square, a gigantic screen displayed a news report on the disaster, but it was soon cut off, replaced by a recording of Wily.

“Greetings, everyone! My name is Doctor Albert Wily, the most brilliant scientist of our age! Yet despite my genius, time and again my work has been passed over and discarded, while the work of amateurs like Thomas Light hog all the attention! I had heard he was on the brink of unveiling his latest _masterpiece_ : autonomous machines known as Robot Masters, which he claimed would revolutionize the world! Bah! I’ve had enough of being overshadowed by that bleeding heart! If this world is too dull to show me the proper respect…then I’ll simply have to reshape the world in my own image, and force you all to grovel at my feet! And it just so happens, I found some robots lying around who supposedly possess the power to reshape the world. That’s right: I have reprogrammed Dr. Light’s Robot Masters! His pathetic coding was no match for my skills! Now panic, all of you! At my command, the Robot Masters will tear apart this world, all so that I can rebuild it! I look forward to ruling over you miserable cretins…that is, those of you who survive! Nehahaha—“

A bomb hit the screen, shattering it and sending the fragments crashing down onto the pavement. Standing below was a heavy-set robot with a black and orange torso, his feet, arms, and head colored yellow (save his small orange Mohawk). Another bomb appeared in his hand, and he tossed it up and down casually.

“What a windbag,” he said. “Why’d he send me someplace so boring? None of these humans are even trying to put up a fight!”

He threw the bomb at a nearby building. Before it made contact, however, some kind of blast hit the explosive, detonating it at a safe range and leaving the structure unscathed.

“Eh?”

The robot turned to see who had fired the shot. Standing down the street was a small robot girl, wearing a simple deep pink dress with a stripe of lighter pink down the front outlined in buttons, and black fabric covering her upper arms and legs. She had large armored boots that were also deep pink, as was the round armor encasing her left forearm, the buster cannon attached to her right, and the rounded helmet through which poked a blonde ponytail held in place by a green bow.

“Bomb Man!” she shouted. “Stand down right this second!”

“…Roll?” he said. He paused to laugh. “What’s with the getup? I’m not here to play with you, ya know!”

Scowling, she fired another shot, this one sailing right past Bomb Man’s head. “I’m not here to play either.”

Bomb Man tilted his head. “…You serious? You really think you can fight me? You’re just a lab assistant! I’m a demolition master! You don’t stand a chance!”

“I’d rather you come peacefully, but I’ll do what I have to! You’re being used by Wily to hurt innocent people—how can you stand that? Come home, Bomb Man, and Dr. Light can fix your programming so you can do what you were meant to do!”

Bomb Man laughed, creating a bomb in each hand. “Sorry Roll, no can do. But if you’re really willing to give this a try, then I’ll take you on. Just try to give me a good fight!”

Roll strafed to avoid the incoming bombs, keeping her buster steady as she returned fire. Bomb Man leapt over the blasts and threw another bomb, so Roll ducked to the side, slid behind a piece of rubble, and waited.

“Roll!” came Dr. Light’s voice. “Be especially careful: even with the reinforced armor we gave you, you won’t be able to take many of those explosions!”

“It’s okay, doctor,” Roll said, “I’m not planning to get hit!”

Her cover exploded behind her. Turning, Roll saw more bombs coming, and so took off in a sprint to get clear. Bomb Man laughed as he bounded after her.

“Come on, show me what you can do!” he shouted. “Weren’t you gonna do whatever was necessary to stop me? Take it up a notch!”

Roll prepared to fire, but thought better of it. Instead charging energy in her buster, she ran towards another pile of rubble, staying in front of it this time as she stooped to pick up a loose stone. She continued to dodge until Bomb Man was just leaving the ground—throwing the stone at the nearest bomb, it exploded into a thick cloud of smoke that obscured both combatants’ fields of view. While Roll doubled back the way she had come, she calculated the trajectory of Bomb Man’s jump and fired into the cloud, hearing the shot make contact and a short grunt from Bomb Man.

“Haha…not bad!” Bomb Man said as he landed. “Maybe you _can_ put up a fight!”

Bomb Man began rapidly hurling bombs, keeping his feet firmly planted as he watched Roll’s movements. Roll was on the run again, the explosions staying only a step behind her; she tried to counterattack, but Bomb Man was easily able to dodge before resuming his stream of attacks.

“Find cover!” Light suggested. “If you can stay out of sight, you may be able to get around him for a surprise attack!”

“Got it!” Roll said, shooting one of the bombs in mid-air.

Expecting another blind shot, Bomb Man dodged backward and kept his eyes peeled. When nothing came, he prepared more bombs, only to realize as the smoke cleared that Roll was nowhere in sight.

“Aw, come on, Roll!” he called. “You were just starting to give me a good fight! Don’t leave me hanging!”

Crouched behind a broken brick wall, Roll grumbled, “You always did have a short fuse…”

As her foe started to lob bombs at random, Roll stayed low and crept behind the wall, peeking out where she felt it was safe so that she could keep track of where Bomb Man was. Soon she ran out of wall, and quickly charged energy while watching Bomb Man through a small opening. He was throwing bombs in the opposite direction. Springing up, Roll fired the shot. It nearly connected, but Bomb Man twisted around just in time, simultaneously throwing a bomb that struck Roll before she could dodge. All she could register was pain as the explosion hurled her back into the ruined building, slamming hard into the opposite wall. The overtaxed foundation shuddered at the impact, and with a loud creak, what remained of the building’s second floor began to collapse.

“Roll, get out of there!” LaLinde shouted.

With seconds to spare, Roll jumped forward and vaulted over the wall she had been hiding behind, feeling a rush of air as the rubble came crashing down behind her. Bomb Man was waiting. He hurled another explosive at her, but she didn’t stop moving: she slid underneath the bomb, charging energy once again, and unleashed it all at Bomb Man the instant she stood back up. The blast sent him reeling.

“Whew,” Roll sighed. “That was close!”

Bomb Man laughed as he got back up. “Well I’ll be! I have to say, Roll, I never expected you’d be the one to finally challenge me!”

“So are you satisfied? It’s not too late to come home peacefully, Bomb Man!”

He just shook his head, already holding a new bomb. “You don’t get it, do you? Whatever my old programming was, it’s gone now! Right now, all I know is that I need to destroy as much as possible, just like Wily ordered me to do! As long as I’m functional, I have to do everything in my power to fulfill that directive!”

Roll raised her buster. “…That’s too bad. I guess I don’t have a choice, then.”

The crossfire began anew. Roll focused on evading while staying close to Bomb Man, managing to hit him with a few shots and prompting him to jump back. Sliding forward a few times, Roll closed the distance, forcing Bomb Man to retreat even further. She stumbled a bit as the edge of an explosion singed her, but didn’t let the slip-up cost her. Eventually, Bomb Man was forced to leap back again, this time landing inside a half-wrecked building.

“Hah!” he said as he formed a bomb. “Now I’ve got cover! Let’s see you—“

Roll shot the bomb before it left his hand. The explosion knocked Bomb Man to floor, and disturbed his surroundings enough that the entire structure shook. Bomb Man tried to get up, but he wasn’t quick enough, and he disappeared beneath a rain of bricks.

“Sorry, Bomb Man,” Roll said as she finally lowered her buster. “We’ll repair you later, I promise.”

“Well done, Roll!” Light said. “Do you think you can get him out of there? There’s something—“

The rubble exploded suddenly, and a badly injured Bomb Man staggered to his feet. Glaring forward, he said, “Don’t think…that’s enough…to finish me!”

Roll took aim again as he limped forward. She hesitated at first, seeing how weakly he shambled towards her, but when he summoned another bomb she knew she had to act. The explosive detonated in Bomb Man’s grasp once again, this one being enough to rip apart his damaged frame and bring the fight to a decisive end. Roll stared blankly at what was left of him.

“…Well…that solves that, I suppose,” Light said quietly. “Roll, can you set a hand on him for a moment?”

Roll looked up as if snapping out of a trance. “Huh? Oh, um, okay.”

She knelt next to Bomb Man’s remains, placing her hand on one of his arms and waiting. Data suddenly came rushing in, and before she had a chance to process it, her outfit turned green and white. Roll pulled her hand back in surprise.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Since we didn’t have time to properly equip you for the battles ahead, we installed something that will allow you to equip yourself as you progress,” Light explained. “The Variable Weapon System has the ability to download weapon data from other robots, as long as you’re able to place your palm on them for a few seconds. Now, in addition to your buster, you’ll have access to Bomb Man’s Hyper Bomb!”

Roll held out her hand and focused. Sure enough, a bomb sprang into existence, and she lobbed it skyward to watch it explode. “Oh…”

“One thing to be mindful of,” broke in LaLinde. “Weapons downloaded this way have a limited ammo supply, unlike your default buster. There are ways to replenish it, but while you’re out there, you’ll need to think carefully about when and where to use them.”

“I see. Okay, I’ll remember.”

“Roll,” Light said, “are you alright?”

Roll looked down at Bomb Man. “I’m…a little upset, I guess. But I’m ready to move on.”

“Roll, if you’ve changed your mind—“

“No, definitely not! If I did, then Bomb Man…well, I’ve already beaten him, so now I have to see this through.”

Light sighed. “I see. Very well. Hold tight while we program the next co-ordinates.”

As he worked, Roll kept staring at Bomb Man’s broken body, feeling an ache deep in her cognitive systems.

_We’ll rebuild him. When this is all over, he’ll be back to his old self, and he can go to work helping people like Dr. Light wanted. It’s up to me to get us there as soon as I can. I’ll keep fighting to bring things back to the way they were._


	2. Fight 1-2

Roll slowly looked around. At first glance the construction site looked perfectly normal: the only thing broken was an incomplete building frame that had fallen apart, and all the equipment seemed to be in working order.

“We’ve detected Guts Man at this location,” LaLinde said. “He could be anywhere, so be sure to keep your guard up.”

“Are you sure he hasn’t left?” Roll asked. “This place looks a lot better than where we found Bomb Man.”

“We’ll scan again to be sure,” Light said.

As she waited, Roll heard something. A shadow moved over her, and she looked up to see a large boulder falling straight towards her; she slid out of the way just in time, and then aimed her buster in the direction it had come from. Standing atop a large mound of rocks on a tall hill was an incredibly large robot with an equally oversized jaw, clad in red, yellow, and black armor, with a distinctive construction helmet build into his head.

“Uh, nevermind,” Roll said, “he’s here.”

“So!” Guts Man yelled down. “I hear you bested Bomb Man! You must be tougher than I realized if that’s true!”

“Please, Guts Man! Surrender peacefully, and I’ll take you back home to have your programming restored!”

“What? What kind of weak talk is that?! The only way I’m leaving here is if you robot up and _make_ me stop!”

Hefting another rock, Guts Man hurled it with ease and watched as Roll dodged to the side before running forward to get in range. She nimbly evaded each stone he threw at her, charging energy as she closed in, and fired as soon as she was close enough—Guts Man put out his free hand to catch the blast, taking some damage but not missing a beat as he threw the next rock.

“Are puny attacks like that all you’ve got?” he shouted. “Maybe beating Bomb Man was just a fluke!”

Roll scowled as she dodged. Activating the Variable Weapon System, she equipped the Hyper Bomb data and lobbed one right at Guts Man. It bounced off his chest armor, right into his hand, and he laughed as he threw it back to explode in mid-air between them.

“W…what was that?!” Roll asked.

“Huh, so you took Bomb Man’s bombs as your own,” Guts Man said. “But it looks like you haven’t learned how to time ‘em properly!”

Roll grunted and formed another bomb. She held it for a second this time before rearing back, and decided to aim this one at the foot of the pile of rocks. There was still a small delay, but the explosion succeeded in blasting the stones apart, sending Guts Man sprawling momentarily as well.

“Hehe! I’m a fast learner!”

Guts Man sprang to his feet. After shaking his fist for a moment, he turned to a nearby bulldozer and used both hands to lift it over his head.

“Uh-oh…”

Roll ran as fast as she could, grabbing hold of a nearby barrier to steady herself as the bulldozer smashed into the ground not far away. She looked up to see Guts Man approaching, and so she readied another bomb, waiting just a minute before giving it a toss. This one hit the arm of a crane that was parked along Guts Man’s path—the explosion pulverized the support to bits, letting the load of girders plummet as the Robot Master passed beneath them.

_But that’s probably not enough._

As expected, Guts Man pushed off the beams in a matter of seconds. Roll managed to time a Hyper Bomb as he emerged, stunning him momentarily, but as she formed another he picked up one of the girders and threw it like a javelin. Dodging just in time, Roll tossed the bomb she held, but she had waited too long and it exploded before reaching Guts Man. He came charging through the smoke with surprising speed, delivering a punch that sent Roll flying.

“Is that all?!” Guts Man bellowed.

The landing dazed Roll. As her head cleared, she saw yet another rock being flung towards her, and dropped a Hyper Bomb on the ground as she scrambled to her feet. The blast blew apart the rock just as it made contact, giving Roll some cover as she circled the construction site.

“Keep pushing,” LaLinde said. “Guts Man’s armor is tough, but sustaining a direct Hyper Bomb hit like that should have shaken up his internal components. You’re nearly there.”

“But don’t get reckless!” Light said. “You’ve taken a lot of damage too—you need to be sure to keep your distance, Roll!”

“It’s okay!” Roll said. “I think I know how to finish the fight without getting too close. Just give me a second!”

Guts Man stayed where he was, fists clenched as he looked around for some sign of Roll. She snuck up the nearby hill to the pile of rubble Guts Man had previously used and, quickly as she could without getting spotted, gathered it all up near the edge and set a Hyper Bomb behind the pile. The explosive went off, triggering a rockslide—Guts Man spun around and grinned, walking forward into the oncoming avalanche.

“Nice try!” he shouted, swatting a rock away just as it rolled up to him. “But you’d need something a lot heavier to scare me! Just wait til I…”

He stopped as he knocked aside another boulder to see a Hyper Bomb rolling behind it. Guts Man managed to leap aside and avoid the explosion, but as he landed he saw another bomb in the mix. Another jump carried him clear, but the next time he landed, one of the rocks hit him and threw him off-balance, leaving him completely unprotected as another bomb rolled right up to him. The blast knocked Guts Man on his back, letting another few boulders bounce onto him as they went by. Wearily, Guts Man pulled himself into a sitting position; he could hear his mechanisms creaking, but it only served to make him angrier.

“No way…am I going down!” Guts Man said, hauling himself to his feet. “You hear me, Roll? I won’t lose!”

Roll hopped on top of a bulldozer. “I don’t care about winning! If you just come home, then you can tell everyone that you beat me. We don’t have to keep fighting!”

Guts Man snorted. Grabbing a rock, he said, “I already…told you…”

He lifted it over his head. As he moved to throw it, his arm buckled, and he dropped the boulder with a surprised grunt. Roll formed another bomb.

“Fine,” she said as she tossed it.

Guts Man reached out, thinking he could knock the bomb away in time. He was mistaken. Roll jumped down and slowly walked forward, stooping to place her hand on one of Guts Man’s broken pieces and download his weapon data. Her clothes turned brown and white once it was processed.

“Where’s the next one?” Roll asked.

“Roll,” Light said, “perhaps you should come home first.”

“I’m okay, Dr. Light. I don’t want to waste any time in getting this done.”

“Going by our readings, you’re in dire need of repairs,” LaLinde said. “Not to mention your Hyper Bomb is almost out of ammunition. You won’t last another battle.”

Roll couldn’t think of an argument.

“It won’t take long, Roll,” Light said. “Please, come home.”

After thinking it over a few more seconds, Roll said, “Alright…bring me back.”

She took another look back at Guts Man. Then, the world rushed around her as she was teleported to the lab.

***

It didn’t take long for her to find Cut Man: the orange and white robot stood on a boulder in the middle of the wrecked park, twirling his scissor-shaped blade around in one hand as he waited for Roll to arrive. He grinned when he saw her, attaching the weapon to the top of his head.

“There you are!” he shouted. “Dr. Wily said you’d be coming for me! I figure the only way you were able to beat Bomb Man and Guts Man was by surprising them, but you’ll have no such luck with me!”

Roll armed her buster. “Please, Cut Man: I’d rather take you home safely! Give up, and we’ll have Dr. Light restore your programming right away!”

Cut Man’s smile faded. “…Hm. I mean, I guess it would be nice to get back to plain ol’ tree-cutting. I’m not really cut out for this ‘world domination’ business.”

Roll looked up sharply. “R…Really?”

“Yeah…yeah!” Cut Man extended his hand. “Forget this. I want to go home.”

Smiling, Roll came forward to take his hand. “I’m so glad! After how stubborn the others were, I was worried that you’d all—”

The second she was in range, Cut Man snatched his blade off his head and swung, leaving a gash down the arm of a very confused Roll as she stumbled back.

“W…What…?”

Cut Man laughed. “Wow, you’re so gullible! Of course I wouldn’t give up so easily! Did you really forget that we’ve been totally reprogrammed? Guess you’re not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed!”

He continued laughing, though his mirth tapered off quickly as Roll just stood there, motionless. When she looked up, she was wearing a scowl that nearly made Cut Man’s circuit board freeze up.

“Uh…”

“You _jerk_!” Roll shouted as she opened fire.

Cut Man was caught off-guard by the sudden volley of shots. He was blasted off the boulder, quickly springing to his feet and taking off. Turning, he threw his blade through the air, but Roll hit it with a blast, robbing it of all momentum and making it drop straight to the ground. There was no time to retrieve it: two Hyper Bombs were flying his way, so Cut Man had to keep running. The blasts detonated right behind him—no shots followed, so he slowed to a halt and waited for the smoke to clear.

“Um, Roll?” he asked.

When he could see her again, she had the Super Arm engaged, using its raw strength to effortlessly lift the boulder he had been perched on over her head.

“Uh-oh!”

Cut Man tried to dodge, but the force behind Roll’s throw carried the boulder straight to him faster than he could react. The blow connected, leaving him sprawled out on the ground as Roll stormed towards him.

“That was a dirty trick, Cut Man!” she said. “You should know better than that!”

“Roll,” came Dr. Light’s voice, “there’s another—”

“Honestly! I can’t believe you would stoop so low, even reprogrammed! Dr. Light built you better than that!”

“Roll, wait a moment!”

Scrambling back, Cut Man said, “H-Hey, hold on, Roll! It was just a joke! I’m really sorry!”

“Sorry?!” Roll said, hefting the boulder once again.

Cut Man ran as she reared back. Before she could finish her throw, however, a burst of electricity collided with the rock, pulverizing it to dust and knocking Roll back a little. Turning, she saw another Robot Master standing nearby: much of his armor was black and red, but his boots, the rings on his wrists, and his angular mask were all yellow. A lightning bolt design was on his chest plate, and a similarly-shaped protrusion sprouted from the top of his mask.

“Pathetic,” he said. “I knew you were going to need help, but I didn’t think you’d be losing this badly!”

“Hey,” Cut Man said, “I had the situation under control! I didn’t ask for your help, Elec Man!”

“Just stay out of my way. It’s clear that you don’t have the power necessary to overcome our sister here.”

“I was trying to warn you,” Light said, “we detected another Robot Master closing in! And what’s worse, it’s Elec Man…”

Roll took a deep breath. “Sorry, doctor: I got a little carried away. I’ll try to calm down.”

“We’re getting you out of there! You aren’t prepared to fight two of them at the same time!”

“No, I can do it! This is a chance to pick up the pace—we can’t lose it!”

“…We did just restore her,” LaLinde said. “There’s no better time than now.”

Light still hesitated. Roll raised her buster as sparks encircled Elec Man, who said, “If you’re done?”

Three bolts of lightning shot from his hand. Roll didn’t try to counterattack yet—she focused solely on dodging, quickly learning the openings in her foe’s attacks. She knew the reason Dr. Light was so concerned, and though she wouldn’t let it stop her, ignoring it altogether would surely prove fatal.

_Elec Man is the most advanced design Dr. Light’s ever made,_ she thought as she moved. _Speed, durability, power…he’s a step above all the others._

She tested a few shots. Elec Man evaded them with little effort, continuing to hurl lightning at her unfettered.

_He destroyed that rock, meaning the Super Arm won’t be much help. I’m not liking the way the buster’s odds are looking, but…_

Roll switched to Hyper Bombs, tossing three in rapid succession; Elec Man destroyed them all in mid-air, throwing another attack a second later to keep Roll on the defensive. That was when he finally moved in.

“Not terrible,” he said. “But not enough!”

As she tried spawning another bomb, Roll was forced to jump clear of another blast of lightning, the reduced range leaving fewer openings for her to escape through. The delay threw off her timing, forcing her to simply drop the bomb and run to avoid being caught in the explosion. Elec Man raced after her.

Nearby, Cut Man watched the fight unfold, sitting with his arms crossed. “Stupid Elec Man…I totally could’ve cut down Roll on my own!”

As they moved farther and farther away, he glanced across the battlefield. His blade still lay where it had been shot down.

“…Hm…well, if he gets to cut in, it’s only fair I return the favor…”

Roll continued to dodge, but she was rapidly losing space to run. She managed to land a hit with a charge shot, but Elec Man shrugged off the blow, driving her back towards a wall of rubble. He held both hands forward and fired a wide blast of lightning, expecting it to finish Roll. However, she managed to slide forward under the beam, engaging the Super Arm as she did. Just as she was passing Elec Man, she came up onto her feet, instantly dug her heels in, and threw a punch at the side of Elec Man’s face, knocking him off his feet.

“Wh—impossible!” Elec Man shouted.

Knowing this might be her only opportunity, Roll tossed two Hyper Bombs as her foe recovered. She shot one, setting them both off in a chain reaction, and then returned to the Super Arm to pick up the nearest piece of rubble and hurl it. Staying low, Roll moved into the edge of the cloud of smoke, quickly preparing another charge shot. Elec Man soon emerged with a furious yell. Roll managed to shoot his leg, but her foe wasn’t as badly wounded as she had hoped: he immediately retaliated, just barely missing as Roll retreated.

“Darn it!” Roll said. “I really thought I had him there!”

Electricity flew off of Elec Man in random arcs. “I told you already, Roll! Your power isn’t enough to beat mine! Be stubborn if you want, but I’ll shut you down one way or another!”

Dancing around bolts again, Roll thought, _He’s not as precise now. I might be able to get in a shot or two, but it wouldn’t help all that much, and I’ll just get cornered again. A Hyper Bomb might do more, if I could throw it that far, but…_

An idea occurred to her. Waiting until what seemed like the best moment, Roll spawned a Hyper Bomb and waited. Just as it was about ready, she switched to the Super Arm and reared back, readying all of its tremendous strength for one throw. Before she could, something cut her from behind. The blow stunned her to the point that she dropped the bomb, and just as it exploded at her feet, Elec Man hit her dead-on with one of his blasts. As she worked to process the pain she was registering, Roll was vaguely aware of being launched up and back, Cut Man laughing at her, and Elec Man finally ceasing his assault. She landed hard. For a moment, her systems felt entirely out of synch. Light was shouting, but she couldn’t make out a single word.

“I told you to stay out of my way!” Elec Man said.

Cut Man shrugged. “Well excuse me! Just thought I’d help you out there, brother.”

“Hah! Help from _you_? Don’t be absurd!”

“I dunno, it looked like she got you pretty good a second ago.”

“Shut your mouth!”

Roll slowly picked herself up as they argued. Under her breath, she muttered, “Ow…I don’t think I can take another hit like that…”

“You have a chance to retreat, Roll!” Light said. “We’ll repair you and come up with a new strategy, and then—”

“Thomas, we don’t have another strategy!” LaLinde interjected. “She’s all we’ve got!”

“Which is why we can’t let her be destroyed! If nothing else, she can live to fight another day!”

“Dr. Light,” Roll said, “I’m okay, really. If we let them go, it’ll probably just be even harder to stop them next time. I’ll find a way to stop them here!”

“You must think of your own safety!” Light said. “Please, come back!”

Her foes finally turned back to her. Light continued to plead with her as she tried to think of a plan. Elec Man said, “I’m surprised you can stand after that. Next time, you won’t be so lucky!”

Roll sighed. Reaching towards her helmet, she said, “Sorry, Dr. Light…but I have to focus.”

She shut off her communicator as Elec Man readied an attack. Cut Man shoved in front of him, throwing his blade at Roll. She dodged, landing a few shots on both of them as they fumbled, and then ducked as the blade boomeranged back around. Elec Man threw Cut Man back and unleashed another blast. Roll just evaded, not taking the risk of counterattacking; Cut Man’s blade appeared between the bolts, slicing through her ribbon as she threw herself on the ground. Elec Man stepped aside as it flew back, shouting at Cut Man. Roll’s eyes widened.

_That’s it! If I can just distract him…_

She fired as she circled to one side. Elec Man and Cut Man easily avoided the shots, and more electricity was flying at her before she knew it. Roll slid past it and activated the Hyper Bomb. Just as Cut Man threw his blade, she created one of the explosives, and carefully wove between the incoming attacks as she counted down. The blade turned around, and Roll threw the bomb. It bounced off the ground, up into one of Elec Man’s blasts, and exploded just before him, not close enough to cause damage but just enough to make him flinch. When he opened his eyes, he saw Cut Man’s blade flying back through the smoke. He screamed as it sliced clean through his shoulder.

“Whoops!” Cut Man said as he caught the weapon. “Eh, guess you gotta be more careful there, huh?”

Clutching his wound, Elec Man spun and glared at Cut Man. “You…imbecile…! I’ve had enough of you!”

Cut Man staggered back as Elec Man pointed in his direction. Before he even had the chance to run, a powerful blast of lightning punched through his body, tearing him to pieces that fell in a mess on the ground. Elec Man took a deep breath as he turned back towards Roll.

“…Hm?”

She was gone. Elec Man walked forward, surveying the area for any sign of her, but he had no idea where she had disappeared to.

“Are you still out there, Roll?” he called. “Stop hiding! We have unfinished business.”

Taking one last look around, he began to wonder if she had actually teleported away. He turned back towards Cut Man’s remains with a dissatisfied grunt, just in time to see Roll picking up one of his pieces.

“What?!”

Lightning chased her as she pulled away. She dropped the piece of Cut Man once the data had finished downloading, her outfit turning gray; Elec Man kept up his attack, but it was slower now, giving her more time to maneuver around the area as she took aim. Three replicas of Cut Man’s blade shot from her arm cannon, weaving around Elec Man’s bolts and forcing him to jump back to avoid being sliced. Roll pressed her advantage, gradually adjusting her angle of approach to guide Elec Man’s retreat. It wasn’t long before he was driven up against a line of trees.

“No…this is absurd!” he shouted. “Me, losing to you? It’s unthinkable!”

Bolts flew out wildly. Roll calmly avoided each one, and then fired another blade. Elec Man dodged and grinned, raising his arm to retaliate, but he never did. The blade clipped a massive branch, causing it to drop on Elec Man and pin him to the ground. Roll fired once more to end the fight.

“That was too close,” she sighed.

She came forward and reached for Elec Man’s frame, downloading his weapon data and then hesitantly reaching for her communicator.

“Um, Dr. Light…?”

“Oh, thank God you’re alright!” Light said. “What were you thinking, Roll?!”

Before she could answer, LaLinde asked, “Roll, what’s your status? What about the Robot Masters?”

“I’ve taken care of it,” Roll said. “Cut Man and Elec Man have both been stopped.”

“You…you did it?” Light asked.

“Barely. I, um…I think I’m ready to come home now, if that’s okay? I really need to recharge before anything else.”

“Oh, of course! Of course, just give us a moment, Roll.”

The doctors mumbled something as they went to work. Roll found herself a bit nervous to see them, but exhausted as she was, that feeling seemed miles away.

_Almost…this whole thing is almost over._

***

As he watched the end of the fight on his screen, Wily smashed his fist into the control panel. “Confound it! Can’t these pathetic robots do _anything_ right?!”

Rolling his chair back, Wily put a hand over his face, gently rubbing his forehead.

“She’s a prototype—a lab assistant! With a rush job for armor and weapons! How is it possible that she’s been able to beat four of my Robot Masters so quickly? At this rate…”

He gave a frustrated hum as he glared at the ceiling.

“At this rate…perhaps I’ll need Plan B after all.”

With some reluctance, Wily rolled his chair back over to the console, typing into it to bring up video feeds monitoring the final two Robot Masters.

“Fire Man! Ice Man!” he barked. “Return to base immediately! Your brothers have failed, so this time we will take no chances! With the two of you working together, taking advantage of the many traps I’ve laid in this facility, there is no conceivable way Roll can escape destruction!”

“Roger that!” Fire Man said. “My flames of justice will burn her to cinders!”

“Hah, like I’ll need _his_ help!” Ice Man said. “But if those are your orders, I’m on my way.”

As he shut off the screen, Wily snickered to himself. “Neheheh…and if somehow she does survive…I’ll be prepared to confront her with something even more cunning!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Tag-teaming the Robot Masters seemed like the best way to maintain a bit of variety while moving things along. Even with only four rounds to write, I was beginning to run out of steam—I shudder to think how stuck I would’ve gotten with six or eight. Related, I’m also forgoing the rematches: while a great gameplay device, in purely written form like this, it has a high risk of getting really boring really fast.  
> -Also as part of that, I feel like I should give a bit of a disclaimer that there’s no guarantee your favorite Robot Master will get a lot of screentime/focus. I’m carefully arranging things so that they’ll all make an appearance, but I just can’t give deep developments to over 100 characters over the course of what would probably be several years. Sorry, but I’m just one guy! (And if you’re specifically wondering about Time Man and Oil Man: while they won’t be in the story just yet, rest assured I do have plans to include them.)


	3. Fight 1-3

Roll sat a bench on one side of the laboratory, kicking her legs absent-mindedly as the wires hooked to her back gradually recharged her energy. On the far side of the room, Light worked silently at a console, hands shaking slightly.

LaLinde approached, asking, “Any luck?”

“I’m afraid not,” he replied. “I can’t seem to locate the final two. Perhaps Wily is jamming us somehow…”

LaLinde glanced briefly back at Roll. “…Are you alright?”

Light’s fingers stopped. “I am a bit scared. That’s making it rather hard to focus.”

“She came back, Thomas.”

“I know. But those moments when I couldn’t reach her terrified me.”

LaLinde nodded. “I can understand that.”

He turned towards her. “Noele, I think I better follow your reasoning now. I never want to feel that kind of horror again. But, truthfully…even if I were to remove Roll’s emotional programming, I think I’d feel it just the same. I can’t simply go back to seeing her as a collection of parts now that I’ve seen her be so much more.”

Quietly, LaLinde murmured, “Perhaps you have a point.” Speaking up, she went on, “At the very least, will you consider making a change with future models? This sentimentality serves no purpose other than to destroy us, Thomas. It hinders their ability to perform and our ability to order them. If you weren’t so attached, you wouldn’t have tried to call her back when it turned out to be unnecessary.”

“So, you think leaving her there was the right thing to do?”

“Yes.”

“That was _her decision_ , Noele. A decision she wouldn’t have made if she was only programmed to follow orders. You agree with her judgment—are you still sure she doesn’t need it?”

LaLinde fell silent at this.

Back across the lab, Tempo came up to Roll and examined her power connections, making some minor adjustments with a screwdriver. Roll asked, “Do you think they’re mad at me?”

“Unknown,” Tempo said. “Unable to process data type.”

Roll looked over her shoulder. “…What do you think, Tempo? About me cutting off communication like that?”

“Termination of communication is unwise. Robots are meant to follow orders. You ignored a request and removed the possibility of receiving further orders. This is a defect.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say.” Roll shook her head. “You never used to talk like that.”

“Clarify. Are you referring to conversations held while I still possessed emotional programming?”

“Yes, and I know that’s the reason why, but…look. Even if we have orders, I was also given my own judgment, and I can’t just not listen to it. Maybe I won’t always be right, but neither will Dr. Light or Dr. LaLinde. Should we have to risk ourselves entirely on someone else’s judgment when we know it’s not infallible?”

Meeting her gaze, Tempo said, “If we are programmed to, then yes.”

Roll frowned. “Can’t we be more than just programming, Tempo? Isn’t that exactly why Robot Masters like us were made? We’re designed to be as close to human as possible. If you aren’t able to make your own decisions, then are you really fulfilling that design?”

Tempo paused in her work. As she processed this, trying to formulate a response, a high-pitched whine suddenly rang out, and the screen of Light’s console turned to static. Roll disconnected herself and ran over as an image of Wily slowly came into focus.

“Well, haven’t you lot been busy!” Wily said. “I’ll give you some credit, Light: never in a million years did I think you’d be able to jury-rig a combat model out of a prototype housekeeper!”

“Wily,” Light said, “put an end to this madness! The Robot Masters have suffered enough!”

“Suffered?! Nehahahaha! They’re machines, Light! Were it even _possible_ for them to suffer, who cares? They exist to follow orders! You should be thankful I’ve brought out their true potential, unencumbered by that petty gentleness you programmed them with!”

LaLinde shuddered at his words. Roll stepped forward, saying, “Thankful?! Why would we be thankful you’re forcing my brothers to fight? You coward: you wouldn’t even be able to cause trouble if you hadn’t stolen the Robot Masters!”

“What?!” Wily shouted. “Why you…! Hrrg…allow me to prove you wrong!”

He hit a key, and data began to stream across the lower corner of the screen.

“I called because it’s time for us to settle this futile battle! Come to these coordinates if you dare, Roll—once you see the genius designs packing my robot factory, then you’ll realize you should never have questioned my brilliance!”

“Fine with me!” Roll said. “I’m more than ready for this to be over!”

“Excellent! I look forward to seeing you turned into a pile of scrap! Nehahahaha!”

The image vanished. Roll turned to Light, but hesitated. He set a hand on her head and looked hard at her.

“Roll,” he said. “He’s no doubt gone to great lengths to stack this in his favor. Going there will be far more dangerous than fighting Robot Masters out in the open.”

“I know,” Roll said. “But Dr Light, I have to go! We can’t afford to just sit around, and we haven’t been able to find Fire Man or Ice Man—this is our only chance to stop Wily! I promise I’ll be careful…I promise I won’t cut communication again. Please, let me do this!”

Light looked to LaLinde, but she turned away—toward Tempo. Scanning over the coordinates, he said, “It will take a few minutes to prepare the transport…make sure you’re prepared.”

Roll smiled. “Thank you, Dr. Light! Don’t worry: I’ll definitely put an end to Wily’s plans and come home safe!”

***

The coordinates sent Roll to a small, barren island, where armored metal walls could be seen bulging from the rocky crags like parasitic growths. Roll advanced cautiously, buster armed, and scanned for an entrance.

“I’m picking up several hostiles closing in!” Dr. Light said. “Although, it looks like our instruments can’t penetrate the fortress walls…”

Roll jumped around a corner and fired. A dozen or so small, cricket-like robots met her, one of them immediately taken out by her shot. As she readied a Hyper Bomb, a sound from above caught her attention: a flock of hemisphere-shaped robots with fast-spinning propellers descended, firing weak shots in her direction. Roll tossed the bomb and jumped clear. Most of the crickets were destroyed in the blast, and she kept an eye on the remaining few as she launched a Rolling Cutter at the drones. The projectile sliced the propellers off several of them, dropping them to the rocky ground with enough force to render them inoperable. She next used a Thunder Beam, the wide spray of voltage wiping out nearly all of the surviving opposition, but she could see more moving in to replace them already.

“I’m going to get nowhere fast like this,” Roll said.

She bounded forward, weaving her way through the oncoming forces and only shooting down what she absolutely needed to. As she drew closer to the factory, she spotted mounted artillery, nearly taking a direct hit from one, but she kept moving forward until she laid eyes on a door. A second later, however, something dropped down from above: a large robot with a round body and single eye atop a single leg. She came to a halt as it hopped forward. After watching it for a few seconds, she sprang into action, sliding beneath the giant sentry just as it jumped; not wasting any time, she activated Super Arm and ripped the door off its hinges, throwing it back at the jumping robot to knock it onto its side.

“Dr. Light,” she said as she headed inside, “can you still hear me?”

“Yes, for now,” came the garbled reply. “But there’s a good chance we’ll lose contact before much longer. Just…be careful, Roll.”

Roll’s footsteps echoed around her as she ran through the vast metallic hallway, the path lined with dozens of robots in various stages of assembly and sporadic beds of spikes. A few active robots came to meet her, but she dealt with them all easily. A bit too easily, she thought.

“Dr. Light?”

There was no reply.

“That was fast…”

There was a burst of orange light. Diving aside, she narrowly avoided a fireball. She tried to stand, but a blast of ice came next, so she kept herself pressed against the floor. Looking up, she spotted two figures up ahead: one was short, clad in a blue coat trimmed with white fur, while the other was tall and covered in red and silver armor, with cannons for hands and an ever-burning flame atop his head.

“So this is where you’ve been!” Roll said, finally back on her feet. “Ice Man, Fire Man, I don’t want to hurt you! Just let me through so I can stop Dr. Wily and—”

More elemental blasts came her way. As she evaded, Ice Man said, “I think not! I’ve been stationed to guard this factory, meaning you’ll be frozen in place here for the rest of eternity!”

“Roll!” called Fire Man. “It’s time to see which one of us truly has justice on their side! Don’t hold anything back!”

Ice Man rolled his eyes, muttering, “Why are you encouraging her? Get a move on, hothead!”

Roll jumped behind one of the taller inactive robots, letting it shield her for the moment. Fire Man continued attacking, keeping her pinned down; she caught a glimpse of Ice Man moving in and, thinking fast, began to climb up the large machine she was using as cover. Ice Man leapt forward and shot an icicle only to hit empty air. He spotted Roll just as she took aim at him, stumbling back but ultimately being sent flying by a Thunder Beam. Roll started to climb down, but then Fire Man appeared from the other side of the robot, surprising her and knocking her to the floor with his next shot.

“Took your eyes off me, didn’t you?” Fire Man said. “Guess I have to prove myself as a worthy opponent!”

Roll fired a Rolling Cutter as she recovered. Flames orbited Fire Man, melting the projectile as soon as it made contact. She dodged another fireball, carefully considering her options, when she heard a shout from behind.

“Not so fast!” Ice Man said. Having given himself away, Roll was easily able to dodge his next ice blast: it flew right at Fire Man only to be intercepted by the flames, barely slowing him down.

_I guess that won’t work this time,_ she thought.

Roll slid clear of the elemental crossfire her enemies launched at her, stopping just short of a bed of spikes. Ice Man hit her before she could get away, freezing her momentarily; turning to Fire Man, he pointed, and then stood there expectantly. Fire Man waited until Roll was free before resuming his attack.

“You idiot!” Ice Man said. “You had the perfect chance to end her!”

“It wouldn’t have been sporting,” Fire Man said. “Besides, this fight has only just begun!”

“Sporting?! Why you absolute—”

A Thunder Beam came their way, only narrowly missing. Roll, now in a less dangerous position, fired once more to force her foes to scatter, and then turned to throw a Hyper Bomb at Fire Man. It made contact with his flame barrier, exploding instantly and stunning him. Ice Man saw an opening, but Roll anticipated him, sliding clear of the blast and retaliating with a Rolling Cutter that caught him off-guard. He growled in frustration.

“Sporting, hmph!” Ice Man said, cold air exuding from him. “If that’s what you want, then I’ve got a sport for you to try! Ice skating!”

With a swing of his arms, a huge swath of the floor was flash frozen. Roll took extra care in dodging, sure to stay away from the icy patch, but her options dwindled as Ice Man continued coating the floor whenever he had the chance.

“Hey, aren’t you going overboard?” Fire Man asked.

“Shut up!” Ice Man said. “Just make yourself useful already!”

Briefly hesitating, Fire Man raised his cannons. Now with even more shots incoming, her running space still shrinking, Roll decided to fall back a bit, disappearing behind a line of incomplete robots to buy some time. Both of her foes moved in.

“You’re finished, Roll!” Ice Man called. “Give up now and we’ll make it as painless as possible!”

A Hyper Bomb went off. Spinning around, Ice Man saw the legs of an especially massive robot still shuddering from the explosion, and Roll jumping up behind it, Super Arm engaged.

“What are you…”

She punched the robot with all her might. The unsteady legs buckled, and its momentum carried it forward, its shadow reaching over Ice Man and Fire Man. They scrambled in opposite directions, but Ice Man realized too late he was heading for a part of the floor he had previously frozen. While he was equipped for such conditions, it still took him an extra moment to find his footing, and it was a moment he didn’t have. The great machine fell right on top of him with a loud crash.

“Ice Man!” Fire Man said. “Are you still functioning?”

A tense silence followed. The robot shifted a bit, and sure enough, Ice Man crawled out from under it, badly damaged but still finding a way to get himself upright.

“Ah, good,” Fire Man said. “Now, where is Roll?”

A Thunder Beam suddenly surged through Ice Man. He screamed as the current totally fried his remaining circuits, and then went silent, collapsing limply. Roll hurriedly rushed forward to set a hand on him as Fire Man processed what had happened.

“You…you villain!” Fire Man yelled. “Have you no honor?!”

Roll turned blue and white. Testing her new weapon with a few shots, she said, “I already gave you a chance to surrender! This has gone on way too long, Fire Man! The sooner this is over, the sooner we can rebuild all of you, and things will go back to normal!”

Flames danced around him, melting the ice shots. “You truly believe things will simply go back to normal? Events this momentous cannot simply be put away!”

Two spiraling blasts of fire shot from his cannons. Roll leapt out of the way, preparing a Hyper Bomb. “What are you talking about?”

Fire Man dodged the explosive, saying, “I see. You’ve focused so much on fixing the present that the only future you can imagine is drawn from the past! Someone like you is unfit to carry the torch of justice!”

Roll shook her head. “I don’t understand what you’re saying!”

Simply giving a yell, Fire Man charged in with cannons blazing. Roll retaliated with a Thunder Beam, severely restricting his space; while he was focused on dodging, she managed to land a hit with the Ice Slasher, causing Fire Man’s body to lock up temporarily and the flame atop his head to go out for just a moment. He paused to heat himself back up, and Roll used that time to move in. Having learned his timing, and no longer needing to split her attention, Roll was able to continue pelting Fire Man with ice, forcing him back. Eventually he feinted, trying to surprise her. The blast caught Roll on the shoulder, but she pressed ahead, this time using the Super Arm to deliver a punch that sent Fire Man sliding back along the ice that still coated the floor.

“Please, Fire Man,” Roll said. “Give up now, or I’ll have to destroy you!”

Despite his momentum waning, Fire Man still couldn’t quite find his balance. “Never! Justice battles until the very end! And it never loses to…ah!”

The ice carried him to the edge of a spike-filled pit. He had slowed enough that he did not immediately fall in, but he wobbled there precariously. Roll prepared to offer to help him. When he launched a fireball at her, she sighed, and hurled a Hyper Bomb back. Fire Man blocked it with flames, but the explosion still threw him off, and he tumbled onto the spikes.

Very slowly, Roll made her way over. She stooped and reached out, barely able to grab hold of him to download his weapon data; she wanted to at least pull him out, but there was no way for her to do so without falling in herself. Letting go, Roll returned to the center of the hallway and continued forward.

_Things will go back to normal…won’t they? Dr. Light can rebuild all the Robot Masters, and they can follow their original programming. The only reason this is happening is because of Dr. Wily—once I stop him, then nothing will be standing in the way!_

Roll stopped before an enormous door made of silver metal. With a hydraulic hiss, it slowly began to rise.

_Everything will be normal again…definitely…_

The room beyond was poorly lit, but the way her footsteps echoed indicated it was rather spacious. At the center of the floor was Wily, sitting in his grounded saucer, tapping his fingers as he glared at the approaching robot. She came to a halt a few paces before him.

“It’s over, Dr. Wily!” Roll said. “You’re coming with me!”

Wily’s fingers fell still. Leaning back, he said, “I think not! I have absolutely no intention of resting until my grand designs have been fully realized!”

“Can’t you see what you’re doing is wrong? Stealing innocent robots, reprogramming them to hurt innocent people—what are you really going to gain from this?”

“Recognition! Acknowledgement! I’ve tried to put my skills to work for the ‘benefit of humanity’, and what have I to show for it? Nothing! At least now, people know not to take me so lightly! Far better to be a danger known ‘round the world than to labor selflessly in obscurity!”

Roll scowled at him. “…At least you’re happy, then. Enjoy your fame in prison.”

A grin cracked Wily’s face. “Oh, I won’t be going to jail, little robot. You may have destroyed all of my Robot Masters…but I’m not done yet!”

He pressed a button and the room began to shake. The saucer closed up, and the floor split in two, slowly retracting to either side to reveal the room was far larger than it seemed. Attached to the bottom of the saucer was a massive machine made of golden metal, a propeller on its back and a large pipe running along the front, centered on a red cannon. Roll jumped down to the floor and took aim at the craft.

“I see now I was wrong to rely on Light’s flawed work!” came Wily’s voice. “Even enhanced by my genius, it can only achieve so much. So! Instead, I will destroy you with a contraption entirely of my own design!”

Roll opened fire, but her shots had no effect. As she began to charge energy instead, the great machine’s cannon shifted position, launching an enormous orb of white light upward. Almost as soon as it was launched, it fell to the floor. Watching in confusion, Roll was right next to it when it bounced, unable to pull away fast enough to avoid being knocked down by the searing-hot energy. Wily laughed and fired another shot.

“Finally, my victory is at hand! Prepare for destruction, accursed, feeble little robot!”

Carefully dodging, Roll launched her charged shot, doing some damage but not much. “You don’t care about robots at all, do you? Why dedicate your life to studying something you don’t love?”

Wily scoffed. “You really are one of Light’s. The potential of robotics is vast, and I seek to explore that potential to its fullest! But the sappy, sentimental way Light goes about it will never yield truly worthwhile results!”

Roll threw a Hyper Bomb. It seemed to work a little better than the charged shot, but Wily just kept attacking.

“And even if I did reprogram the Robot Masters, you were the one who destroyed them! Should _anyone_ be blamed for causing them suffering, it should be you!”

She gritted her teeth. Blasting the craft with a Thunder Beam, she shouted, “No! This is all _your_ doing, Wily! I’m not proud of what I had to do, but I know I’m not the one to blame for us being in this situation!”

Wily simply grunted, keeping up his assault. Roll tried the Ice Slasher next, temporarily freezing chunks of the pipe, but the ice melted near-instantly when the cannon next fired.

_Is this the only weapon he has? He’s channeling a lot of heat through it…_

An idea struck her. Roll’s clothes turned orange and yellow as she equipped Fire Storm, and then she hurled a series of fireballs directly at the cannon. Wily thought nothing of it and attempted to fire. However, the temperature of the barrel had skyrocketed from Roll’s attack, and when even more superheated energy moved to build up within it, it proved too much. The artillery exploded in a fiery display, blowing off huge pieces of the machine in the process. From the now-exposed cockpit, Wily glared down at Roll, growling as he mashed the controls.

“No, no!” he shouted. “I will not lose to Light again! I refuse!”

The remains of the cannon flared to life, spitting out a random spread of unfocused energy. Roll braced herself as the attack flew by; spotting exposed wiring, she switched to Rolling Cutter and aimed carefully, and soon the craft began to buck and veer wildly.

“You say you want to explore robots’ potential,” Roll said, “but you threw away Dr. Light’s way of bringing it out. You won’t ever understand us if you think like that!”

Energy continued to fly out from the machine. Roll hit it with a Thunder Beam, and its engine began to sputter.

“I hope Dr. Light finds a way to get through to you, Dr. Wily! But either way, you won’t be able to hurt anyone else!”

She lobbed a Hyper Bomb, blowing off an entire side of the machine. It started to fall, and Wily, giving a furious shout, angled it in Roll’s direction. She engaged the Super Arm and dug in her heels. Swinging at just the right time, she punched the incoming craft, causing it to crumple and tear to pieces, ultimately crashing around her with a thunderous noise. She paused a moment and surveyed the sparking heap, and then let out a sigh of relief.

She trudged over towards the cockpit, buster armed and ready. Wily pulled himself from the wreckage with a groan, dusting off his lab coat as he examined his injuries; spotting Roll, he recoiled, and then hastily looked over his shoulder.

“Alright…” Roll said. “Anything else? Or can we go?”

Wily continued to look about, muttering to himself under his breath. “This wasn’t supposed to…I’m not…I’m not sure what I should do now…do I…?”

Before Roll could inquire further, her communicator came back to life. Light said, “Testing…Roll, can you hear me? Hello?”

“Dr. Light?” she replied. “You’re back! Yes, I can hear you just fine.”

“Ah, finally! What’s your status?”

“I’m okay. Fire Man and Ice Man were waiting, but I defeated them, and I’ve got Dr. Wily right here. I’m just about to—"

A strange whistle filled the air, and Wily’s entire body froze. Roll surveyed the room to locate the source of the sound, and became aware of a new figure standing off in the corner: a humanoid form clad in red and gray armor, face obscured by a visored helmet, and a yellow scarf tied around his neck.

“Who are you?” Roll asked. She didn’t raise her buster, but she didn’t disarm it.

He stared at her silently. When he turned to Wily, the old man jumped, scurrying back and saying, “I-I did what you asked! All of it! It’s not my fault she managed to stop me, Break Man!”

“Roll?” Light asked. “What’s going on? Who is Wily talking to?”

Break Man turned back to Roll. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she could feel the contempt of his gaze just the same. Eventually, he turned, stepping into the shadows and teleporting away. Wily collapsed with a loud sigh.

“Finally…” he said. “Maybe now he’ll leave me alone…”

“What’s going on?” Roll asked. “How do you know that guy—who is he?”

Sitting up, Wily replied, “I’m, uh, not entirely sure. He just showed up one day, threatening to kill me if I didn’t do what he asked. For whatever reason, he wanted me to reprogram Thomas’s Robot Masters, let them run amok, and claim responsibility for it.”

Roll squinted at him. “Hold on: you mean this was all an act? Everything was Break Man’s idea?”

“That’s right!” Wily said, edging forward. “Thomas and I may not see eye to eye, but I’d _never_ resort to something like this! I was just so afraid…a helpless old man like me can’t possibly defend himself against a robot that dangerous!”

“I see,” Light said. “That explains it, then.”

“Hold on a second, Thomas,” LaLinde said. “Should we really believe him just like that? He hardly seemed to be acting when he barged in here.”

“I’m not so sure either,” Roll said. “Why would Break Man wait to show up until now if this was what he wanted?”

“We can sort out the details later,” Light said. “Either way, we can’t simply leave Albert there. Bring him back with you, Roll—we can decide what to do from there.”

“Alright, doctor.”

Roll held out her hand. Smiling, Wily said, “Oh, yes, I’ll come back with you! And thank you, Roll: I’m glad someone was able to put a stop this madness.”

“Sure,” Roll said as Wily took her hand. “My pleasure.”

***

“…and, you know the rest,” Wily finished.

Standing outside Wily’s cell, Light stroked his beard, muttering, “Break Man, is it? I wonder…”

Behind him, LaLinde and their prototypes were also gathered, each deciding for themselves how much of the story they believed. Wily said, “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused. At first I was only doing the minimum, thinking that’d be enough, but Break Man caught on…I had no choice but to go all out.”

“So,” LaLinde said, “you didn’t actually mean what you said about robots? That they only exist to follow orders, and their pain doesn’t matter?”

“No, of course not! I just said the most heartless things I could think of, to be more convincing.”

She glanced back at Tempo, who stood perfectly still. Next to her, Rock said, “Dr. Light, you know him best. What do you think?”

Wily looked up at Light sheepishly as the doctor thought. With a solemn nod, Light finally said, “We’ve always had our differences…but you deserve a chance to prove yourself, Albert.”

Wily smiled. “Thank you, Thomas. You won’t regret it!”

“Further, if Break Man is still out there, then it’s likely we’ll be hearing from him again. We need to be prepared, and having your expertise on our side will go a long way towards that end.”

“Oh, of course! I have a few ideas already—things I thought of to counter Break Man but never got the chance to build. We should get started as soon as we can.”

“Indeed. I’ll see what I can do to get you out of there. For now, get some rest, Albert: I imagine you’ve been under quite a bit of pressure as of late.”

Wily nodded, laying down on his bed as the others left. Once outside, Rock said, “What do we do now, doctor?”

Light put his hands in his pockets. “We’ve got plenty of work ahead of us. In addition to helping Albert, I want to get the Robot Masters repaired quickly. Noele, would you be able to lend me a hand?”

LaLinde thought for a moment. Pulling Tempo close, she said, “Yes, but…there’s something else I need to take care of first.”

“…Oh. I see! Yes, of course!”

Light then turned to Roll, who brought up the rear of the group. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, and her movements were short and somewhat sluggish.

“Roll? Are you alright?”

She looked up suddenly. “Huh? Oh, yes, I’m fine.”

Light waited.

“…I just…was really hoping that things would go back to normal once this was all over. But now that we know about Break Man, it looks like…we’re going to have to fight him, too.”

The doctor walked over and knelt next to her, setting his hands on her shoulders. “Yes, we will. But you’ve done enough, Roll. This time, we’ll have a chance to be ready, meaning we won’t need to put this burden on your shoulders. You don’t have to fight anymore.”

Roll looked up at him, silent at first. “…I want to stop, but…I don’t think I should. Now that I know I can help, it’d feel wrong to sit by and do nothing.”

“Hm…I understand. At the very least, you can afford to put it out of your mind for now. We’re not sure what form the next battle may take, or what Albert and I will have ready to deal with it. You don’t have to decide today, my dear.”

Slowly, she nodded. “Okay.”

“And Roll?”

“Yes?”

Light hugged her. “I’m so proud of you.”

“H-Huh?”

“I know this has been hard on you, but despite that, you achieved everything you set out to do. The world is safe because of you. The Robot Masters are going to return to their rightful places, all because of what you did. I’m sorry that you had to be put into this situation…but I’m so proud of the way you’ve persevered.”

A smile came to Roll’s face. She leaned into Light’s shoulder and let out a long sigh, relaxing for what felt like the first time in years.

“Let’s go home. Things may not be exactly the same, but we can still put this event behind us.”

Pulling away, Roll nodded. “Right. Let’s go!”

As they headed on their way, Roll felt largely relieved thanks to the doctor’s words. Still, a background process continued running, contemplating the possibility that her days of fighting had only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -And there we are! This particular arc didn’t change much, but things will build upon each other from here on out. Hard to say when exactly I’ll have the second arc done: being back in college has taken a good amount of my time and energy, I have other ongoing fics to continue, and I still have to finish Shooting Star Sonia in particular, but I’ll be sure to keep working on SFR while all that’s going on! I hope you enjoyed this first piece of the story, and with luck I’ll see you again soon!


	4. Fight 2-1

The massive sub-level chamber of Light Labs echoed with the sounds of drills, torches, saws--a cacophonic symphony of construction that simply refused to rest. At the center of it all, ensnared in a web of scaffolding, stood a behemoth of a machine made in humanoid image, body clad in blue and silver armor while its arms and feet were bright crimson. Its head, still incomplete, was made of golden metal, set atop a large square jaw which currently provided footing for two men in lab coats.

“Gamma?” said Wily, busying himself with polishing the lens of the great machine’s eye. “That’s what you want to call it?”

Light nodded. He looked up at the robot’s face, a mix of pride and dread coloring his own. “That’s right. The third time I’ve turned a robot into a weapon...and I dearly hope the last.”

“Hmm...as good a name as any, I suppose. Once we install the power source it should be just about done. Then we’ll only need to figure out where Break Man’s been hiding, and send this thing in to put a stop to him!”

Turning away, Light looked down over the scaffolding, eyes too clouded with anxiety to truly see any of it. The nearby screeching of the elevator cleared his head. As the lift descended into view, he could see everyone huddled on the platform: Roll, Rock, Rush, Tempo, and LaLinde, with a wooden crate sitting before them. A smile brightened his face.

“Doctor Light!” Roll called, hitting the lever to pause the elevator’s climb down the wall. “We’re back! How are things going?”

“Rather smoothly, I’d say. Don’t you think, Albert?”

Wily hummed in affirmation, not looking away from his task.

“We were able to get the parts you asked for, doctor,” Rock said. “Are you sure three is going to be enough?”

“Most definitely! It took us a whole month to figure out a system that could handle three. We’ll meet you below in just a moment.”

With a nod, Roll flicked the lever, and the elevator resumed. Rock said, “I guess these things are more powerful than they look.”

“The real concern is whether or not this robot can make proper use of them,” LaLinde said. “We really should’ve been testing these in the earlier stages of construction, but no one was willing to part with their samples when they found out Wily was on the project…”

“Yeah. But before long, I’m sure he’ll be able to convince everyone to give him another chance!”

Roll and LaLinde exchanged a look, but said nothing. Roll then turned to Tempo, who stood somewhat separated from the group, staring straight up the wall. Clearing her throat, Roll quietly asked, “Tempo? Are you alright?”

Tempo snapped to attention, eyes widening briefly. Nodding jerkily, she said, “Yeah, yes...fine. I’m fine.” Rush gently nudged her leg. She pet the robotic dog’s head, the tension in her expression gradually ebbing away.

When they finally reached the floor, Rock carried the crate over to the base of the scaffolding, smiling at the various robots at work. Next to the giant machine’s foot, Guts Man stood shouting orders, and when he spotted the crate he approached with a grin.

“‘Bout time we got these!” he said. “How’s it going, Rock?”

“Hey Guts Man!” Rock said. “It looks like work is almost complete. Any idea how much longer it’ll be until he’s ready?”

Taking the crate from him, Guts Man said, “Well, our priority is getting these installed and making sure they’re working right. Long as that goes without a hitch, finishing up the head will be a snap, so best-case scenario is the big guy’s up and running two days from now.”

Roll glanced over the scaffolding, picking out Fire Man and Elec Man hard at work amidst the crew. She quickly averted her gaze. Light and Wily made their way down as Guts Man pried the lid off the crate, and everyone gathered to stare at its contents: three thick disk-shaped objects, lined with metal edges while the center shone with brilliant light.

“Perfect!” Light said, gently taking one in his hands. “With these Energy Elements, Gamma will be unstoppable! Let’s test them right away!”

“Slow down, Thomas!” Wily said. “You’ve been working around the clock--now that everything’s settled, this is the best time for you to finally get some rest. Even genius like ours needs time to recharge.”

“Oh, perhaps you’re right. Guts Man, tell everyone to take a break for now. We’ll get the tests under way shortly.”

“Sure thing, boss!” Guts Man said.

He departed then, and Light set the Element down before turning to smile at everyone. “Now that I think of it, I’m famished! Why don’t we have some lunch?”

“We thought you’d say that,” Roll sad. “Right, Rush?”

With a bark, the dog crouched down, a compartment in his back opening to reveal a picnic basket. Light laughed. “Ah, thank you! Just what I need!”

“I think I’m going to lie down for a bit,” Wily said, stretching and yawning. “Come get me before you begin testing.”

The lift carried Wily out of the chamber, while Light and the rest took seats around a hastily thrown together workbench. Eyeing the crate, Rock said, “So, what’s so special about these Energy Elements anyway?”

“Oh, they’re a marvelous invention,” Light said between bites. “I was at the conference a few years ago where Dr. Cossack unveiled his work--the whole scientific community was astounded! By refining certain ores and minerals through a specific process, he was able to make a power source that puts out a truly astounding amount of energy and lasts for years before running dry. It’s a technology with the capability to revolutionize the world!”

“But,” LaLinde said, “those materials are extremely rare. Their impact has been severely lessened by the lack of available supplies, and now that bassinium mining is banned pending new safety regulations…”

She trailed off, grinding her teeth together for a moment before discreetly glancing at Tempo. The robot girl just stared at the table in silence.

“Well, regardless. If the Energy Elements live up to their reputation, this ‘Gamma’ should be nigh-unstoppable. For a pacifist, Thomas, you certainly know how to make fearsome weapons.”

“That’s exactly why I dedicate my research to peace,” Light said. “With all that I’ve learned, I know just how dangerous technology can be if we aren’t careful. It isn’t enough to simply leave it be and see what happens: even if idle, it can cause grievous harm from only aimless curiosity. We must actively direct the course of technology in a positive direction so that it can benefit all mankind. That is the responsibility of being a scientist.”

LaLinde chuckled. “Sounds wonderful. But who decides which direction is positive?”

Light chuckled back and continued eating. Roll said, “What do you mean, Dr. LaLinde? We just have to do the right thing, don’t we?”

“That is the goal, but people don’t always agree on what ‘the right thing’ is.” More quietly, she continued, “Sometimes even a single person isn’t so sure what ‘the right thing’ is...and even if it is right, it can still cause harm. Unfortunately, it isn’t anywhere near as simple as we’d like to think.”

Roll cast a glance over her shoulder back toward the scaffolding. After a few moments, she tilted her head upward.

“Roll?” Rock asked. “You okay?”

“Do you hear that?” she asked.

A faint rumbling sound made itself known, steadily growing clearer. Tempo’s eyes shot wide. Clutching at LaLinde, she said, “No, no, not again, no!”

An explosion rocked the wall, sending bits of rubble flying into the chamber as the worker robots scrambled for cover. LaLinde covered Tempo, saying, “I-It’s alright! Tempo, it’ll be okay! We’re going to get out of here just fine, understand?”

Rock went to steady Light, meanwhile Roll glared up at the new entrance. Eight figures could be seen moving through the dust, dropping down into the sub-level and making a beeline for Gamma’s scaffolding. She took off running. “Rush, come on!”

The dog bounded after her as her body flashed, combat armor materializing in a matter of seconds. Coming up on the scaffolding, Roll ducked aside as Guts Man came flying towards her, crashing into the pavement with a loud grunt. Up ahead, the intruders could now be seen more clearly: there was some variation in their construction, but it was obvious from their designs that these were eight new Robot Masters, three of whom were currently holding the Energy Elements in their hands

At the front of the bunch was a large robot encased in heavy blue armor. Giving a brief growl, he said, “There you are. Roll! I’ll be your opponent!”

Roll held her buster ready, glancing at Guts Man. “Are you alright?”

Picking himself up, Guts Man said, “Yeah, just took me by surprise. Not that you should take him lightly: he’s almost as strong as me.”

“Stronger, actually,” the other robot said. “My name is Hard Man! We’re claiming these Energy Elements for our master, Break Man!”

“I can’t let you do that,” Roll said. “Please, just set them down and we can talk things over!”

Hard Man simply waved his hand, and his seven colleagues began to make their escape. Roll ran after them, but Hard Man leapt into action: his fist detached from his arm, flying forward and knocking a surprised Roll off her feet. Guts Man surged forward and grappled with Hard Man while Rush went to Roll’s aid. The others were nearly out when a great blast of fire cut them off.

“Halt, villains!” Fire Man declared from atop the scaffolding. “Your wickedness will not succeed so long as I am here!”

An orange robot with an inverted triangular helmet laughed, casually spinning an Energy Element on one finger. “Well, aren’t you serious! Never thought I’d meet someone who could preach like that with a straight face.”

“You aren’t serious enough, Top Man,” said another robot, this one clad in blue and white body armor with a shuriken adorning his helmet. “That thing is not a toy.”

“Lighten up, Shadow Man, I know what I’m--”

He yelped as a plasma shot singed his hand, making him drop the Element. Roll, buster still smoking, shouted, “Now, boy!”

Rush bounded out from behind a fallen chunk of wall, snatching up the Element and dashing back towards Roll. The Robot Masters moved to stop him, but Fire Man covered his retreat with a wide spread of flames. Two robots made it through, both bearing identical bluish-white armor with a jagged crest on the helm; they dashed at Rush in unison, and as they were nearly upon him, Elec Man dropped to the floor with one palm forward. Wincing, he unleashed a Thunder Beam at the twin robots that knocked one of them flat. The other, however, disappeared into nothing the instant the beam struck him. Elec Man stumbled back, eyes instantly doubling in size.

“N-No…” he murmured. “That can’t be…”

Rush managed to toss the Element into his storage compartment and sealed it shut. As he passed, Hard Man pushed Guts Man back and swiped at the dog, but he was far too slow, and Guts Man grabbed him from his blind spot to lift him overhead.

“Wrong move,” Hard Man said. He twisted just enough to hit Guts Man’s wrist, and without a proper grip to hold him, Hard Man fell directly on top of Guts Man with a loud crash. Roll tried to repel him with her buster, but the shots had little effect.

“Nice going, Top,” said a large blue Robot Master with spikes on his head and arms. “What do we do now?”

“We take what we have,” Shadow Man said. “Top Man, you stay. Come back with that Element or don’t come back at all.”

Top Man sneered. The robot who had been stopped by Elec Man got back on his feet, and at the snap of his fingers, another perfect duplicate appeared next to him. Staring transfixed, Elec Man said, “A projection?”

The Robot Master and his double both flashed him a grin before regrouping with their allies. Fire Man was taking aim again, but another Robot Master stepped forward, one with red armor and a magnet attached to his helm. He thrust both open palms forward, and a concentrated wave of magnetic force extended out, sweeping up Fire Man and repelling him back into the wall. Six of the Robot Masters then went out through the hole they had created to get in, absconding with two of the Energy Elements as Hard Man and Top Man set their sights on Roll.

Hard Man took aim with another rocket punch. Roll launched a charge shot as she dodged, doing nothing against her foe’s thick shell. She turned, hesitated, but then shouted, “Elec Man, we need help! Guts Man and I can barely damage him, but you should be able to bypass his defenses!”

Elec Man grimaced. “Well...I suppose, but…”

Hard Man slowly walked forward, saying, “More fighters won’t make a difference. My armor can’t be pierced.”

Roll heard a warning shout from Guts Man. When she turned, something collided with her, knocking her down once more; looking back up, she realized it was Top Man, spinning to a halt with a slightly irritated look on his face.

“At least I get to stretch my legs,” he said. “Nice to meet you, Roll. Hand over the Energy Element, and I’ll be more than happy to leave in peace.”

“No way!” Roll said, climbing back to her feet. “What does Break Man want with them anyway?”

Top Man spread his arms. “Who knows? I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

Guts Man swung at him from behind, but Top Man used his wheeled feet to dash out of the way in a second. Jets extended from his wrists, and when they fired, he quickly spun into a robot whirlwind, striking Guts Man in the leg before steering himself towards Roll. She dove aside and took aim, but had to abandon her counterattack to evade another punch from Hard Man. When Top Man stopped, a compartment at the top of his head opened up, and a trio of spinning tops shot out across the floor, keeping Roll on the move.

At the same time, Light was crouching next to the panel to recall the lift, hoping not to draw the attacking Robot Masters’ attention as he flipped the switch. Hidden behind some equipment, LaLinde had her arms wrapped tightly around a hyperventilating Tempo, while Rock could only look on helplessly.

“It’s alright, Tempo,” LaLinde said, doing her best not to shake. “We’re all right here with you. We’re getting out. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

Coming back to join them, Light said, “Hopefully Roll and the others will be alright. How did Break Man find out about the Energy Elements?”

“It was Wily, of course!” LaLinde said.

“Noele, we’ve no reason to think--”

“We have every reason!”

“He’s made mistakes, certainly, but he’s trying to make amends!”

“H-Hold on!” Rock interrupted. “For now, we need to stay calm. If we draw these new robots’ attention, it’ll just be one more thing for Roll to worry about!”

The two doctors fell silent at this. Light looked back up at the descending elevator, and LaLinde resumed trying to soothe Tempo.

Roll and Guts Man continued their struggle, neither able to hurt Hard Man or even hit Top Man. Elec Man remained reluctant to join the fray, yet couldn’t bring himself to leave, and so he simply watched on until he heard someone behind him. Whirling, he was met with Fire Man, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you well, brother?” Fire Man asked. “I would be happy to assist you in withdrawing if you require repairs.”

Turning back, Elec Man said, “No...I am undamaged. Carry on.”

Fire Man came up beside him. “Then what weighs upon you? Perhaps you resent Roll for your recent defeat at her hands?”

“It isn’t that!” Elec Man snapped. “Just go help them, alright? That’s the most pressing issue.”

Stepping out onto the battlefield, Fire Man said, “Your schemes end here, thieves! No evil can withstand my flames of justice!”

The cry distracted Hard Man, an opening Guts Man used to get in one good punch. He smirked, but Hard Man was quick to respond, driving both fists into Guts Man’s chest and then launching them to carry him across the room. Top Man advanced on the new arrival, but banked to the side when Rush tried to bite onto him, a quick stop just barely saving him from a charge shot. Flames poured from Fire Man’s arms to engulf Hard Man, but the large robot barely reacted. Once his fists reattached, he leapt up, rising far higher than anyone expected, and then angled his fall directly towards Fire Man. Dodging the maneuver was easy for Fire Man, and he left in his place a towering inferno that Hard Man could only fall directly into. He emerged looking only irritated, but as more fireballs peppered him, Roll noticed spots of his armor beginning to glow a faint red.

“That’s it!” she said. “Fire Man, don’t let up! I’ll handle Top Man for now, so you just focus on Hard Man!”

Fire Man nodded, speeding up his rate of fire. “You can count on me!”

Roll ran to where Top Man had stopped; a cocky smile painted his face as he simply shrugged his shoulders. “You’re going to handle me? How is that going to--”

Rush interrupted with a bark, making him jump slightly. Roll fired at him, but Top Man was still able to dodge, and began to rapidly spin once more. She charged energy as she avoided him, watching closely for the slightest sign of him slowing down. As he was just coming to a stop, she fired, catching him off-guard and stunning him long enough for Rush to tackle him to the floor.

“You can’t spin forever, and you’re wide-open when you stop,” Roll said. “I’ve figured out how to beat you. There’s no reason to keep fighting!”

Top Man scoffed. “What, you expect I’ll just give up? Someone as naive as you has no business holding a weapon.”

He knocked Rush off and threw out several tops. Roll wove between them and jumped clear of his spin, landing another shot as he came to a halt. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Behind her, she could hear Fire Man continuing to smother Hard Man in flames. The heavy robot still seemed to be ignoring the heat, but his foe was careful to dodge all his attacks, causing the stalemate to drag on endlessly. As Hard Man crouched in preparation for another jump, his leg suddenly twitched. Looking down, he realized just how much of his armor was glowing red-hot from Fire Man’s continued assault; this fact was still processing as a harsh sizzling shrieked from within his body. Hard Man moved to take a step, but the sizzle suddenly gave way to a snap, and his leg ceased to respond.

“I figured out Roll’s plan,” Fire Man said, still outputting more and more flames. “That armor of yours may have a high melting point, but it isn’t heatproof! And moving such a heavy frame is no doubt quite taxing on your unarmored internal components, no?”

Hard Man heard more sizzling. Scowling, he said, “How dishonest! Where is the justice in these flames of yours?”

“I would prefer a more straightforward victory. But! This is a non-lethal way of subduing you, and there’s justice in that!”

Shouting, Hard Man aimed his fist. Before he could launch it, Guts Man came rushing in, delivering a punch that rattled Hard Man’s frame to the point that all of his overheated components simply shattered. He fell flat, and after a brief groan, flames broke through his eye coverings as his processor finally succumbed to the heat.

“G-Guts Man!” Fire Man yelled. “There was no need to go that far!”

Shaking his lightly-scorched hand, Guts Man said, “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the help, but I think you’d better go see to the docs for now.”

Fire Man walked off grumbling, and Guts Man stooped to examine Hard Man’s body. Finding the least hot piece of armor, he pried it off, called out to Roll, and tossed it to her. Roll caught the armor fragment, and instantly her armor became dark blue and gray.

“Huh, so you got the best of Hard Man?” Top Man said. “Big deal! I don’t need that oaf’s help to beat you!”

Roll curled her fingers into a fist as Top Man began to spin. Just as Hard Man had done, she launched her fist at her opponent, the impact so powerful that it knocked Top Man out of his spin before flying back to reconnect to her arm.

“...Alright,” he groaned as he picked himself up. “That’s going to be a problem…”

Guts Man and Rush came to either side of Roll as she aimed another punch. “Maybe you’ll give up now?”

Top Man grinned. “And go back a failure? There’s a reason the boss is called _Break_ Man, y’know.”

“Don’t go back, then. We can--”

Top Man dashed forward suddenly. Roll fired again, bringing the battle to a close. She shook her head, and as she stepped forward, she realized Elec Man was still watching. Quickening her pace, she downloaded Top Man’s weapon and then headed back to Dr. Light.

“Is everyone okay?” Roll asked.

Everyone nodded, save for Tempo. Rush went to her side as Light said, “At least they didn’t damage Gamma. But whatever they want those Energy Elements for, it can’t be good.”

“We’ll just have to take them back!” Roll said. “With the readings from the one we still have, we can track them, right? Just tell me where to go, and I’ll take care of that while you finish Gamma.”

Light took a long, sad look at her. “Roll...are you sure you want to fight again? Even with only one Element, Gamma will still be plenty powerful.”

“I can’t just sit by, Dr. Light! I’m able to help, so please, let me!”

“...Alright, then. Just give me a moment to get everything in order.”

LaLinde helped Tempo onto the elevator, saying, “This is...too much right now. I think we need to find a place to just rest.”

“I understand. We’ll keep you updated as the situation develops.”

The Light family joined them, and the elevator carried everyone up to the main lab. There, Wily was waiting with a bewildered expression, saying, “Oh, you’re alright! I’m so glad. What on Earth was that ruckus just now?”

LaLinde quickly made her exit. Light said, “It seems Break Man is on the move again. He’s dispatched a new set of Robot Masters, and they’ve stolen two of the Energy Elements.”

Wily clamped a hand over his mouth. “Goodness! That’s terrible!”

“We’re sending Roll to retrieve them. Would you mind helping me make preparations, Albert?”

“Of course, Thomas, of course! Anything I can do to help.”

“Thank you. Rock, why don’t you run a diagnostic on your sister to make sure she’s in top condition?”

“Sure thing, doctor,” Rock said. “It’ll just be a second.”

The two robots crossed the lab, Roll saying, “I hope Tempo’s alright…”

Rock nodded, eyes on the floor. “Yeah, that must’ve been a lot like what happened when the mine collapsed. I wish I knew how to help her...what about you? Are you really ready to fight more Robot Masters?”

“I’ll be fine, Rock. Come on, let’s set up this diagnostic.”

As they began moving the equipment into place, Roll found herself silently repeating her answer. She was fine, she told herself, because she knew that she had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -And we’re back! Didn’t mean for it to take so long, but you all lived through 2020 too, so you know. Arc 2 is something of a mix between Mega Man 2, 3, and 5, mostly taking after 3. I’m planning five parts, but right now I only have two--ideally I would’ve liked to have the arc pre-written, but again, 2020, and I want to post at least one thing on Mega Man’s anniversary. 2-2 will be posted 12/26, and I’ll focus on getting the rest of these out as soon as I can.  
> -It might seem weird starting out with the MM3 Robot Masters, but don’t worry, the crew from 2 will be appearing in this arc as well. Those from 5 are getting saved for a later storyline--don’t want to cram too much in at once, and I think this other idea will put them to much better use.  
> -Rush has officially been outfitted as a support unit now that Light’s had a bit of time to prepare for such an eventuality. However, Roll wanted to be a little optimistic, so she no longer has data on any of the Special Weapons from the first arc--she’ll be keeping a limited arsenal of those moving forward.  
> -“I know they’re human-like, but a robot hyperventilating doesn’t make sense.” “The trauma is causing her processor to overheat so her respiratory system is working hard to cool it.” “...Alright I’ll keep it in.”


	5. Fight 2-2

The world began to settle into place once more, and Roll opened her eyes to be met with an infinite sea of stars. Before her lay the Earth, expansive yet seen in miniature, and behind, the moon stood looming over the empty void she floated in, reflecting what light it could take in to form a foreboding aura all its own. Roll could only marvel silently at it all.

“Can you read me, Roll?” came Light’s voice.

“Oh, yes! The transport was a success. I’m moving in now.”

Rush, who floated next to her, flailed his legs in a vain attempt to propel himself forward. Grumbling to himself, he activated one of his new functions, and his body folded and shifted, transforming into a jet-propelled sled that maneuvered much more easily. Roll’s boots magnetized to Rush’s back as he passed, and then the dog accelerated as he steered towards the moon.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t get you any closer,” Light said. “I never expected the transporter would need such a range...but, we’ve double-checked the reading, and the stolen Energy Elements are definitely on the lunar surface.”

“This is close enough. Rush’ll get us there in no time, right boy?”

Rush barked in confirmation. Roll giggled. As they drew closer to their goal, however, her mind began to wander.

“How’s Tempo?”

“Noele says she’s resting easy now.”

“That’s good. What about Guts Man? And Elec Man?”

“Everyone’s doing fine, given the circumstances. A little shaken, but unfortunately, there’s not much we can do to quell those concerns at the moment. Albert is directing Gamma’s construction to make sure it stays on-schedule...though I dearly hope we won’t need him.”

“I guess that comes down to whether or not Break Man will listen to reason.”

Light sighed. “No, I don’t think that he will.”

There was something odd about the way he said it, but Roll couldn’t put her finger on it. Before she had a chance to ask further, she detected an energy spike on the moon’s surface, and directed Rush to fly low as they finally pulled in close. They travelled the last bit on foot, peeking over a ridge when they were just on top of the reading: ahead could be seen the six escaped Robot Masters, all gathered around a crater with a contraption at its center that looked suspiciously like a transporter.

_So this is only a stop on the way,_ Roll thought. _I have to cut them off here._

“Why pass up an opportunity like this?”

Roll noticed Shadow Man standing just at the crater’s edge, speaking with Magnet Man. Crossing his arms, the latter said, “Our job is to get the Energy Elements as far away as possible. That’s it. Delaying Roll doesn’t matter.”

“But if we do delay her, then it will provide more time,” Shadow Man said. “And in that time, we would have the opportunity to get even farther away.”

“Hmph. You just want to ambush someone, don’t you?”

As they continued arguing, Roll realized another Robot Master stood even farther away from the crater: his body was shaped like a screw and covered in orange and white armor, with his arms ending in two long needles. More importantly, on the ground next to him sat an Energy Element.

_Hm...maybe…_

She and Rush crept carefully towards the orange robot. Magnet Man turned towards the transporter, calling, “Needle Man! What’s our status?”

The blue, spike-topped robot from before poked out from behind the machine. “If it was done I would’ve said something, don’t you think?”

“Just give me an estimate.”

“Well if you can contain yourself for a minute or two, it’ll be ready to go. Mind if I get back to work now?”

Magnet Man sighed. Roll was now right behind the closest Robot Master, staying safely behind the ridge as she estimated the distance between her and the Element.

_It’s not too far? I might be able to sneak over and grab it, but then again, I don’t know for sure what these Robot Masters are capable of. Probably best to play it safe…_

She turned to Rush to be sure he was ready. The dog nodded. Equipping the Hard Knuckle, Roll popped up from her hiding place, took aim, and fired her hand. The rocket-propelled appendage flew to where the Energy Element lay, the guard jumping as he realized a hand had suddenly appeared next to him. He shouted, and Roll’s hand grabbed the Element and began to fly back to her. Shadow Man and Magnet Man whirled about. Roll leapt forward to meet her hand half-way, giving her just enough time to duck back behind the ridge and pass the Element to Rush before Magnet Man began trying to pull her in. Once the item was safely stored away, Rush jumped out to give Roll something to grab onto, letting her get her footing.

“Wonderfully done, Spark Man,” Shadow Man grumbled as he readied a shuriken.

The orange Robot Master waved his needles around. “Well, why did you leave it with me anyway? I don’t have hands! What was I supposed to do?!”

“Is now a bad time to tell you it’s ready?” called Needle Man.

Magnet Man glanced over his shoulder. Shadow Man said, “Well, seems it’s in our best interests to delay her here, wouldn’t you say?”

“Shut up. Needle Man, you and the others go on ahead! Protect that last Element with your life!”

Roll fired her buster and tried to make a break for the crater, but Spark Man blindsided her with an electrical attack. The transporter lit up, sending away three Robot Masters, and then Magnet Man turned towards it and fired a wave of magnetic energy. The machine began to spark erratically.

“No one’s getting out of here until we settle this,” Magnet Man said. “Any complaints?”

Shadow Man grinned. “None.”

Roll tumbled out of the way of a shuriken, nearly throwing herself right into the path of another blast of electricity. Magnet-tipped projectiles came at her next, curving in mid-air in an attempt to hit her, avoided by only a well-timed leap. Shadow Man suddenly appeared behind her. He stuck a shuriken in Roll’s back, causing her to stumble forward into Spark Man’s range; Rush snapped at Shadow Man as he moved to flee, but the Robot Master kicked the dog aside.

“Rush!”

Enduring a shock, Roll spun and fired a charge shot to destroy the missiles now headed her way. She then plucked the shuriken from her back and hurled it at a surprised Spark Man, her armor turning black and yellow as she did. Shadow Man got in close again, but this time Roll activated Top Spin, whirling around at high speeds to repeatedly smack the side of her fist against Shadow Man, until she finally slid forward (avoiding Magnet Missiles in the process) and grazed Magnet Man with another charged blast. She crouched next to Rush to ensure he was alright before re-equipping Hard Knuckle.

“I’ll hold her!” Magnet Man said, putting both hands forward. “You two coordinate!”

Magnetic force began to pull Roll across the ground. Taking advantage of it, she fired off a Hard Knuckle that flew extra quickly into Magnet Man’s face, but he managed to maintain his focus. Roll turned and crossed her arms to guard against the incoming shuriken, though there was little she could do to reduce the damage from Spark Man’s attack. Rush jumped forward, the magnetism drawing him forward to pounce on Magnet Man, and this was enough to startle him—Shadow Man closed the distance to attack Roll before she could regain her bearings, but she had already equipped Top Spin and sent him sprawling.

“What’s happening?” Spark Man said. “This should be over by now!”

“Let’s not forget who we’re dealing with,” Shadow Man said, brushing the dust from his armor. “She’s the one with the most experience destroying other Robot Masters.”

Roll wanted to snap at him, but she didn’t have an argument. An electric blast almost caught her off-guard. She fired a charge shot at Spark Man, and then turned to see Rush evading Magnet Man’s blows, ducking back in to bite him when possible. In an instant, Shadow Man appeared behind her, locking an arm around her neck and brandishing a shuriken in his free hand. With only a moment to think, Roll threw her head back into Shadow Man’s face. The blow didn’t do much damage, but her ponytail managed to jab him at an odd angle, disorienting him enough that when he stabbed down the weapon ended up lodged in his own arm instead of Roll. He winced, and the wasted second cost him: Roll elbowed him in the chin, turned and slammed her fist into his chest, and then activated Hard Knuckle to shoot him back into a mound of lunar soil.

“Yikes,” Spark Man said, “you really are no joke…”

Roll fired another Hard Knuckle at Magnet Man, missing but creating an opening for Rush to attack. “If you don’t want to fight, that’s fine. I’m just here to take the Elements back, and as long as you don’t hurt anyone, I won’t have any reason to fight you after that.”

Spark Man glanced aside for a moment. Magnet Man, grabbing Rush by the back of his neck, said, “Spark Man! Don’t forget our mission. We were built for combat—you will fulfill your programming!”

Roll ran at him. She couldn’t fire with Rush in the way, so she focused on closing the gap instead, sliding under a volley of Magnet Missiles before finally getting close to her foe. Magnet Man kept a firm grip on Rush, so Roll threw her arms around the dog and twisted her foot forward, using Top Spin to strengthen the blow enough that it knocked Magnet Man down.

“You okay boy?” Roll asked, keeping an eye on her foe as she set the dog down.

Rush nodded. His ears then perked up, and he and Roll scattered to avoid a lightning blast. Spark Man was advancing, and Roll kept a close eye on both him and the recovering Magnet Man. However, a rain of shuriken signaled the sudden arrival of Shadow Man—he dropped in front of Roll, cutting off Spark Man’s line of fire, and glared down at her as he readied more shuriken.

“You won’t outmaneuver me!” Shadow Man said. “I was built for this, not retrofitted like an outdated appliance!”

Roll tried to escape, but Magnet Man used his powers to restrict her movement, and all she could do was stand up. As Shadow Man attacked, Rush lunged at his feet; the Robot Master tripped forward as Roll engaged Top Spin, punching forward with as much strength as she could muster, and her fist was driven deep into Shadow Man’s chest. Roll’s eyes widened. Shadow Man grunted quietly, continuing to glare at her a few more moments before looking over his shoulder.

“Spark Man…!”

Realizing what he was trying to do, Roll tried to pull her fist free, but Shadow Man grabbed her arm with both hands and refused to let go. Shaking his head, Spark Man said, “Wait, seriously? I can’t attack when you’re right there!”

“I’m done for anyway,” Shadow Man said. “Don’t let this opportunity go!”

Roll grabbed Shadow Man by the shoulder and tried to push free, inadvertently downloading his weapon in the process, but remained stuck fast. Rush tried to knock Shadow Man loose, but the dog’s efforts were similarly in vain.

Spark Man hesitantly raised his arms. “But...I…”

Roll winced as a Magnet Missile exploded against her back. Magnet Man prepared to fire again, so she conjured shuriken of her own to throw, warding him off for the time being. She turned back to Shadow Man and said, “Don’t do this! Please! We might still be able to repair you!”

Shadow Man grinned. “I would rather die than be indebted to my enemy. Do it, Spark Man!”

Spark Man shut his eyes tight. As he began to build up electricity, Roll shut her own eyes and switched to Hard Knuckle. Using an extra shuriken she had held onto, she slashed Shadow Man’s hands just as she fired the rocket punch, weakening his grip enough that he was carried away, straight into Spark Man. The electricity fried what remained of Shadow Man, and Spark Man looked down at him in horror.

“No, Shadow Man! I didn’t...I…”

Roll found it difficult to turn away. It was Magnet Man who brought her back to reality, blasting her forward with a Magnet Missile. Spark Man looked up, eyes narrowed in sadness and rage, and unleashed a wild burst of electricity.

“This is all your fault! If it weren’t for you, Shadow Man…!”

Clenching her teeth, Roll did her best to ignore what he was saying. She switched back to Shadow Blade, throwing several of the shuriken to knock back Spark Man, and then followed up with a quick charge shot. Magnet Man began pulling her in again. Roll activated Top Spin and used the momentum to strengthen her blow, but Magnet Man was able to dodge her attack. He stayed alert as she threw a wide spread of Shadow Blades, unlike Spark Man, who charged blindly into the onslaught while trying to return fire, his shots too erratic to find their mark.

“I’m sorry!” Roll said as she dodged. “I didn’t want it to come to this, I—”

“Who cares if you’re ‘sorry’?!” Spark Man yelled. “That doesn’t change what you did!”

A wave of magnetic force pushed Roll forward. Ducking as best she could, she flung half a dozen shuriken at the various openings in Spark Man’s guard; the blows stunned him, giving Roll time to switch to Top Spin before ending up right in front of him. She aimed a spinning kick directly at one of the blades, digging it deeper into Spark Man’s arm, and the limb twitched briefly before falling limp. Spark Man swatted her with his good arm before she punched him onto his back. The magnetic force now reversed, and Roll used it again to deliver a Hard Knuckle to Magnet Man. A bark from Rush let her know Spark Man was approaching from behind, so she spun and punched, hitting another shuriken, this one in Spark Man’s head. His cranial unit was split in two. Roll caught his body as it fell, downloading his weapon, and just stared for a moment. A Magnet Missile cut her thought process short, and she turned to glare at Magnet Man.

“You live up to your reputation,” he said, continuing to pull her closer. “Even just delaying you is more difficult than expected.”

Roll’s armor turned orange and white, and she fired a ball of electricity that stunned Magnet Man. “It’s ‘difficult’? Aren’t you at all upset? Two of your friends were just destroyed!”

“Nng...of course...I’m upset. But I’d rather keep working towards our goal than dwell on something that can’t be undone.”

Roll stopped and considered his words. However, the paralysis her foe was under soon began to wear off, prompting her to act—and she fired another Spark Shock at Magnet Man, overloading his systems and finishing him off. Roll dropped to the ground with a heavy sigh. Rush nudged her gently. She managed a grin as she pet him.

“Are you alright, Roll?” Light said. “That sounded like quite the battle.”

“I’m okay, Dr. Light. Just a little tired.”

Rush opened the compartment in his back. Roll drew out an E-Tank, drinking it to regain some lost energy, and then picked herself up.

“We’d better take a look at this transporter they used. Hopefully, we can fix it and—”

She stopped short as a familiar sound filled the air. It was a whistle she had only heard once before, but it was impossible to forget. Turning, Roll saw Break Man standing not too far away, staring straight at her as he unlimbered his large shield.

“Roll?” Light asked. “Roll, are you there? I didn’t quite pick that up, but it almost sounded like—”

Roll broke into a run as Break Man aimed his arm cannon. When he fired, it shot a continuous laser beam that swept across the landscape in pursuit of her.

“It’s Break Man!” Roll said. “Looks like he’s here for a fight!”

Equipping Spark Shock, Roll tried to paralyze him, but his shield absorbed the bolt. She next switched to Magnet Missile, attempting to direct the projectiles around the barrier only for Break Man to effortlessly pivot to block them all.

_I guess it makes sense he’d be prepared. These weapons belonged to robots who worked for him._

Roll switched back to her buster as Break Man resumed his attack. Staying ahead of the beam, she said, “What is it you’re after? Why’d you manipulate Dr. Wily, and what do you need the Energy Elements for?”

Break Man cut his attack, but only to walk closer. Roll stayed cautious, but didn’t attack.

“You must have come all this way for a reason. Are you willing to talk?”

He stopped a few yards away. His visor obscured his eyes, but Roll could feel him staring at her. Eventually, he shook his head, saying in a garbled voice, “I pity you.”

“...What?”

“Well, whoever you used to be, at least. I pity the poor robot who had their self ripped out and rearranged by that cruel doctor.”

Tentatively, Roll took a step forward. “I don’t understand what you mean. You think someone reprogrammed me? I’ve never been worked on by anyone but Dr. Light.”

Suddenly, Break Man pointed his cannon forward and fired. The beam grazed Roll’s shoulder. Rush ran ahead, but Break Man knocked him aside with his shield, shouting, “Exactly! You ceased to be useful to him as you were, so he remade you into something you weren’t! What could be crueler?”

Roll circled her opponent, constantly firing buster shots to test his guard. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Oh, I know perfectly well. But I guess he wouldn’t let you accept the truth, would he?”

Break Man disengaged his weapon, focusing only on blocking Roll’s shots. She said, “Listen to me!”

“I’ve said what I wanted to say. Next time we meet, I’ll put you out of your misery, Roll. I’m sorry that’s all I can do for you.”

With that, he disappeared in a flash, leaving a bewildered Roll to search for any semblance of sense in what he’d said. Setting it aside, she went over to Rush to verify he was alright, and then headed back towards the crater the Robot Masters had been working in.

“Are you still there, Dr. Light?” Roll asked.

“I am,” replied Light, his voice barely audible. Roll assumed their connection had degraded over such a distance.

“I don’t know what he was going on about...anyway, I’m going to examine the transporter the others used to escape. Once we have it repaired, I’ll go after them and get that last Element back.”

“Roll, wait. That may not be safe...you don’t have to put yourself in harm’s way.”

“I know, Dr. Light. You don’t have to worry: we’ll be careful.”

“That’s not…” He sighed. “...Alright. Please do.”

The communication ended, and Roll set to work, having forgotten Break Man’s cryptic comments for the moment. She didn’t realize that not everyone was able to ignore those words so easily.

***

Tempo sat up suddenly, startling LaLinde. Quickly reforming her composure, the doctor calmly said, “It’s alright, dear. Everything’s fine.”

The robot girl paused a moment, taking in her surroundings: they were in the Light family’s living room, both sitting on the couch in silence. She then sighed, running her hands over her face. “No it isn’t...this isn’t fine…”

LaLinde moved closer, setting an arm across her shoulder. “Tempo…”

“I keep remembering what happened—what it felt like to get buried alive like that. It’s been happening this whole time, but now that my emotions are back, it...I can’t function like this! I’m a mining robot who can’t stand to be underground! I…”

She gave a harsh sigh. LaLinde said, “You don’t have to just be a mining robot, dear. Just because that was your initial designation doesn’t mean you have to keep at it forever.”

Tempo didn’t answer.

“...Is it easier for you without your emotions? If that’s what you want, I can…”

“I don’t know,” Tempo murmured. “...Can I ask...why did you remove them when you repaired me? Did you think that was best?”

LaLinde averted her gaze. “That was what I said. But...it was more for selfish reasons, really. I was terrified by what happened, too terrified to face it. I took it as proof that making robots human-like was a mistake, and I thought...if that weren’t the case, then if anything else did happen...I wouldn’t be quite so terrified.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry—it’s really a horrible way to think, I realize that now. I put my own feelings before yours. I don’t ever want to do that again.”

Tempo’s gaze drifted as she absorbed this. Eventually turning back to LaLinde, she asked, “What changed your mind?”

“A lot of things. Seeing Wily treat the Robot Masters so cruelly, the way Roll chose to fight him, Thomas’s concern for her...it reminded me that you’re more than just another robot. I love you, Tempo—it was foolish to think I could ever pretend I could stop. And, however you want to deal with this...it has to be _your_ decision, not mine. But, if you’ll let me, I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

Tempo wrung her hands, taking an excruciatingly long pause. “Really, I just wish the accident had never happened. But even if I act like it didn’t, that won’t change anything. I guess it has to get worse before it can get better, huh?”

Tentatively, LaLinde hugged Tempo close. Tempo leaned into her.

“…At least having emotions isn’t all bad. I’ll hold onto them for now.”

“Alright.”

Tempo shuddered, burying her face deeper into LaLinde’s shoulder. She couldn’t explain it, but somehow, the pain lessened just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -“But sound doesn’t travel in space!” I don’t care. Like I’m sure there’s a way to rework everything so that no sound is involved and it would probably be really cool, but I don’t have it in me to work all that out right now and the cartoony nature of Classic doesn’t really...need it? So heck it: sound in space. Now someone can hear you scream.  
> -Replacing Break Man’s buster with this laser cannon might seem a little arbitrary, but with what I hope to do down the line I think the bit of variety will go a long way.  
> -Next chapter is...coming along. I have a break from both work and school so I’m going to do my best to knock the rest of this arc out, but who knows, some other catastrophe could easily occur between now and then. Wish me luck!


	6. Fight 2-3

Roll spun around, buster armed, as the transport completed. The only things that greeted her were another transporter unit and an endless expanse of dusty red plains.

“Mars? I guess I should just be glad they didn’t go even farther out. Dr. Light, can you read me?”

Static came in reply. Giving a short hum, Roll set out, Rush on her heels, keeping her eyes open for any sign of movement.

“Never thought we’d get to see another planet up-close, huh boy?”

Rush barked.

“Hehe...though, a lot of things have taken an unexpected turn lately.”

She thought back to what Break Man had said. At first she had simply wanted to dismiss it as a misunderstanding—being weaponized had been her choice, and it was bizarre that he thought otherwise. The more she thought on it, however, she became curious as to _why_ he was so sure Dr. Light would do such a thing on his own.

_The way he talked about Dr. Light…it almost made it sound like he knows him personally. And now that I think about it, that would explain why Dr. Light wasn’t expecting Break Man to just talk things through. But, if they do have some kind of history, why wouldn’t Dr. Light have said so? No, more importantly…I’m positive Break Man is a Robot Master. I was sure that Tempo, Rock, and I were the first, so when could he have met Dr. Light without us knowing? Unless…_

Glancing back, Roll suddenly realized that Rush had stopped following her. She turned to look at the dog, standing a few paces away with ears perked up, and prepared to call him. Before she could, he pounced on something.

“What’ve you got, boy?”

Rush pulled a small mechanical snake from the dirt. Roll tilted her head as she examined it, and then froze, spotting the dirt behind Rush shifting. She fired a shot, blasting out another robot snake.

“What are these things?”

“Oh, you’re no fun…”

Whirling, Roll spotted a figure emerging from the surrounding dust cloud: a Robot Master with mostly green armor, his helmet styled to look like a large snake with its jaws around his head and tail hanging down his back. Keeping her eyes peeled for more snakes, Roll said, “I just want the Energy Element.”

“So impatient. May I at least introduce myself?”

“I’m going to guess ‘Snake Man’?”

The robot frowned. “No fun at all...regardless. If you are here, then I take it our comrades left on the moon have met their end?”

Roll didn’t answer.

“Ah, what a shame. If you’re capable of defeating them, then the rest of us certainly don’t stand a chance.” He began to walk back into the dust cloud. “Yes, I think it’d be best to just hand the Element over. Come, this way…”

Roll turned to Rush. The dog looked up from gnawing on the snake he had caught, giving a low-pitched whine.

“Yeah, I’m not convinced either...but, we need that Element.”

The two of them proceeded with extreme caution, scanning the ground for signs of any more snakes while also keeping Snake Man’s silhouette in sight. After a few minutes of walking, the dust began to thicken; wanting to keep the other robot in sight, Roll ran forward a few steps, and at that moment a pinpoint of light appeared. Roll dove aside, the incoming laser beam grazing her shoulder. Large metal spikes then began to rain down, so she stayed low, carefully crawling forward in search of her enemies.

_I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy._

A gust of wind finally thinned the dust cloud. Roll found herself staring up at a small, two-story structure made of metal stained red by the planet’s dust, Snake Man standing in the doorway grinning at her. “What ever is the matter, Roll? The Element is right in here. Come over and take it.”

He ducked aside to avoid a Hard Knuckle. From the upper floor, Needle Man fired a hail of spikes; Roll slid behind a boulder just in time, spotting another laser a second later. “They’ve really got the advantage here...I’ll have to be smart about this.”

She peeked out and took aim at Needle Man. He ducked back inside immediately. A battalion of snakes were set in motion before she could switch targets, so she instead began clearing them out. A figure appeared behind Snake Man then, shooting yet another laser, though it was aimed away from Roll for some reason. She refocused on destroying the snakes. The laser hit another rock, bouncing off of it at a new angle, and went straight for Roll, knocking her out of her hiding spot.

“Uh-oh!”

Needle Man was back. Roll had no time to dodge, opting to blast the incoming spike out of the sky instead. Several of the snakes were upon her now, biting into her armor all at once--leaping to her feet, she shook them off with Top Spin, ducked back behind cover, and prepared some new tactics. She instructed Rush to shift the dirt on one side of the rock, hopefully making her enemies think she was about to emerge from there, and then darted in the opposite direction towards another adequately-sized boulder. As she passed, she shot Snake Man with Spark Shock to prevent him from adding to the army of snakes. Once safe, she unloaded a series of Magnet Missiles, the projectiles curving around her cover in search of proper targets.

“Admirable effort, Roll!” Snake Man called. “But aren’t you forgetting something?”

Snakes began to crawl over the rock. Roll leapt back and fired a Hard Knuckle, shattering the stone and disrupting the movement of the machines. She tried to head back to her first hiding spot, but Needle Man was too quick: a barrage of spikes kept Roll in place, allowing the snakes to regroup and resume their march. A bark caught Roll’s attention. Rush, in his jet form, rocketed towards her; she grabbed the edge of the platform and was carried out of harm’s way, quickly pulling herself up to get better footing.

“Thanks, boy,” Roll said.

They turned hard to avoid a laser. Circling around, Roll got a better idea of the landscape, seeing that the building was protected from the rear and sides by natural barriers.

“That still leaves one other way!”

After verifying that they were out of their enemies’ sight, Rush flew as low as he could without the roar of his jets giving them away, and Roll jumped onto the nearby rock wall. She steadily climbed down and onto the roof of the building, then looked back to Rush and held up ten fingers. Roll gripped the hatch on the roof, took a deep breath, and then ripped it off and jumped inside. The inner walls looked identical to the outer walls, and the room was empty save for a few rusty crates and a very surprised Needle Man.

“Wha--where’d you come from?!” he shouted, hurrying to lift his cannon.

Roll threw a Shadow Blade before he could fire, knocking his arm aside. She followed with a Spark Shock to stun Needle Man, and then blasted him into the wall with a Magnet Missile. Snake Man leapt up to the window as quickly as he could, only to be met by a Hard Knuckle that sent him falling back to the ground.

“Gemini Man, get up here!” Needle Man shouted.

Roll ran at him, hoping to not give him enough space to use his cannon. Suddenly, Needle Man bent forward, and the spikes atop his head extended out, stopping Roll short. As she stumbled back, she saw one of the lasers from before shoot out of the stairwell: it ricocheted off the ceiling, floor, and walls, fencing her in. However, Needle Man did not attack.

“Jerk...at least get an idea of what you’re aiming at!”

Ten seconds had passed. Rush came charging in through the opening in the roof, getting hit by the unexpected beam. Roll stunned Needle Man again as she made sure he was alright. Before she could follow up, snakes emerged from the stairwell and advanced towards her.

“Darn it!” Needle Man stomped his foot and took aim with both cannons. “Prepare to look like swiss cheese!”

He fired wildly, leaving no opening for Roll to counterattack. The projectiles zipped past her, most of them burying themselves in the oncoming wall of snakes--they were easily pinned to the floor, and those in the rear were slowed by the need to crawl over their companions. His assault only lessened when another Gemini Laser entered the room. Between the three incoming attacks, Roll was forced closer and closer to Needle Man, soon coming into range of his headbutt attack; as he moved to use it, Roll ducked and slid forward, colliding with Needle Man’s ankle and tripping him into the Gemini Laser. The impact sent Needle Man rolling into the wall, where he sat dazed for a moment.

“Ugh...just great…”

Roll pointed her buster at him. “Just give up. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

Needle Man stared at her. “...Huh. You really aren’t what the boss prepared us for.”

“...What?”

“Here we were expecting a terrifyingly powerful Robot Master ready to kill at a moment’s notice. You’re tough for sure, but it doesn’t really seem like your heart’s in it.”

Roll clenched her teeth. “Of course not! Why would I want to kill any of you? I’m only fighting because you’re forcing me to!” She turned to blast some of the snakes before immediately putting her eyes back on Needle Man.

“Heh heh...guess someone’ll have to let the boss know he’s wrong. I would love to see that.”

“I already tried, but Break Man won’t talk to me.”

Needle Man shook his head. “I don’t mean him. I mean--”

Another Gemini Laser shot into the room, reflecting off the wall once before striking Needle Man directly in the chest. In his weakened state, that was more than enough to pierce his armor, searing a hole clean through his internal components. Roll jumped back in shock. A few seconds later, a scowl clouded her face; she grabbed Needle Man just long enough to copy his weapon, and then shot spikes through the floor in a circle. When she stomped on the center of the circle, the floor broke away, giving her a path to leap directly down to the lower level.

“Ah, there she is,” Snake Man said. On either side of him stood Gemini Man and his duplicate, though which was which was anyone’s guess. “You’re quite determined to swoop down on us from above, aren’t you? Are we so beneath you?”

Ignoring him, Roll stared at one of the Gemini Men. “Why would you do that to Needle Man?”

Both Gemini shrugged in response, one saying, “Who knows?”

Roll opened fire. “Is it really so easy for you to kill someone? What’s wrong with you?!”

Her foes scattered. Roll tracked one of the Gemini while the other and Snake Man flanked her. Rush dropped on top of Snake Man just as he prepared to attack, and the closer Gemini charged at Roll, prompting her to turn her assault his way. The spikes passed right through the projection, and the real Gemini Man used the opportunity to set a Gemini Laser bouncing around the room.

“What a peculiar thing to say!” he remarked as Roll focused on tracking the laser. “Of course it’s easy. As if it could be difficult for a technical marvel such as myself!”

Rush scurried back out of the laser’s path. Bounding back, Snake Man began calling up his army; Roll turned her fire upon them, impaling the troops before they could advance more than a few inches, and managed to land a direct hit on Snake Man’s shoulder. He cried out, clutching the wound as he slumped against the wall. Switching her focus again, Roll ducked just beneath the Gemini Laser and equipped Magnet Missile, hoping the homing projectile would be able to track Gemini Man. The laser shot down her first attempt before she could find out.

“I can’t believe anyone would program robots to be so cruel,” Roll said.

“Are you saying all we know is wrong?” Snake Man asked, baring his fangs in a pained smirk. “It isn’t our fault we are who we were programmed to be. There’s no need to act all high and mighty.”

Gemini Man and his doppelganger charged before Roll could respond. She leapt back, the laser striking her in the side and knocking her flat. Snake Man capitalized on the situation with a small squadron of snakes, with the tiny machines charging straight through one of the Gemini. Switching to Shadow Blade, Roll attacked the other, stopping his charge, before tumbling out of the snakes’ way. Rush pounced on the real Gemini Man to keep him pinned, while Roll dealt with the snakes and turned to their master.

Raising his arms, Snake Man said, “My, this is unfortunate…”

“Where’s the Energy Element?”

“Right over there.” He gestured slowly to a crate in the corner. “By all means, help yourself.”

Keeping her eyes on Snake Man and her buster ready, Roll made her way over to the indicated crate. She grabbed the lid, paused, and lifted it, spotting the Element at the bottom on a bed of something she guessed was packing material. The instant she reached for it, Snake Man darted in Rush’s direction. Roll was ready: she shot him with the Needle Cannon, the spike piercing straight through his chest, and with a drawn out cry Snake Man fell to the floor, his sparking body soon growing still. This still distracted Rush, however, and Gemini Man was able to set another laser loose into the room.

“Get back boy!” Roll shouted as she ran forward, sliding just under the beam’s path.

Rush complied, and Gemini Man sprang to his feet. He leapt back, shimmered, and then jumped to one side, his doppelganger jumping in the opposite direction. Roll hit Snake Man’s body as she passed, armor turning green and white. Three Search Snakes leapt from her buster, zipping along the ground too low for the Gemini Laser to intercept them, all converging upon the real Gemini Man and bringing him down as they sank their fangs into his ankle. Roll launched a Magnet Missile to cancel out the Gemini Laser, and then glared at Gemini Man.

“You...you just got lucky!” Gemini Man said. “If it weren’t for the others holding me back, there’s no way you could have outperformed me!”

Roll shook her head. “What’s the point of this? Why--”

She stopped short as Gemini Man raised his hand to fire a laser. Quickly, she fired a Hard Knuckle in return; the beam reflected off the rocket-propelled fist back into Gemini Man, finishing him off before Roll’s attack even landed. With a harsh sigh, Roll knelt and copied his data, and then transferred the Element to Rush’s storage compartment.

“Let’s hurry home, boy,” she said. “I’m worried about Dr. Light and the others.”

Rush transformed into his jet mode and carried her in the direction of the transporter. Roll tapped her fingers against her leg, thoughts lingering on what Needle Man had said.

_There’s someone other than Break Man behind all this. I just hope it’s not who I think it is..._

***

Light typed away at his console, eyes repeatedly flicking to the comm window in the corner to see if the connection had reestablished. Wily set a hand on his shoulder, saying, “Thomas, I can handle this if you need some time. I’ll let you know right away when Roll comes back into range.”

“Thank you Albert,” Light said, “but I think it’s best I stay busy.”

“If you insist. The Energy Element is installed, so we’re ready to test as soon as you are.”

“I’m finished here as well. Running test in 3...2...1…”

Light hit one final key and held his breath. Behind him, Gamma roared to life, light shining from the eyes on its half-completed skull. Wily grinned. “Excellent! Let me take a look at those readings!”

Not far away, Rock applauded alongside the construction crew, though he slowed to a halt when he spotted Elec Man in the crowd. He hesitated, but then approached, asking, “Elec Man? Are you okay?”

The other robot shuffled away slightly. “Fine.”

“Okay...it’s just, you’ve been really quiet since the other Energy Elements were stolen. Are you worried?”

He shifted his shoulders. “It’s nothing, Rock.”

“...I don’t want to butt in, but...if you need anything, even if it’s just to talk, I’d be happy to help. I mean, I’m your big brother after all! Technically.”

Elec Man finally turned to look at him, expression blank at first. Rock saw him crack a small smile as he turned away again. Giving a sigh, Elec Man quietly said, “I guess I’m worrying you, aren’t I?” He paused. “I’d never quite realized how powerful my abilities were. I had some idea, of course, but now I have a much deeper understanding. After seeing just what I was capable of under Wily’s reprogramming...I suppose I’m afraid. If I were to lose control, even briefly, I could end up destroying someone else, maybe beyond all repair this time. When I destroyed that Robot Master’s projection, I thought I had done just that. That’s why I’m still shaken.”

“Oh. I see…”

Elec Man shook his head. “There isn’t really anything to be done about it. I’ll just have to be as careful as I can.”

Rock waited a moment. “...Have you talked about this with Roll?”

“Roll? No, why?”

“It isn’t exactly the same, but...well, I shouldn’t say too much. But, she’s been struggling a little after having to fight all of you, so she might have some advice that could help you out.”

Elec Man looked up, considering this silently.

Back at his console, Light nodded at the data he was seeing, and prepared to shut Gamma back down. Something caught his eye, stopping him, but before he could look into the matter, the sound of the lift descending reached his ears. He turned, expecting to see LaLinde or Tempo coming to join them. His heart stopped when he laid eyes on Break Man.

“...Blues…?”

Wily noticed him as well. Throwing his hands up, he shouted, “Agh! Break Man! Oh no, this is terrible!”

The worker robots scattered in a panic. As Break Man stepped off the lift, Guts Man came forward to meet him, saying, “Well well well! Looks like you finally decided to stop hiding behind your minions and come face us head-on like a real robot! Good--I was hoping I’d get the chance to deal with you personally!”

Break Man ignored him completely, gaze fixed solely upon Dr. Light. Trembling, the scientist muttered, “Blues...it’s really you...you’re still alive…”

“Hey, tough guy!” Guts Man said. “I’m talking to you.”

Break Man finally faced him.

“Yeah, y--”

Suddenly, Break Man’s armor changed color, becoming purple and white. An instant later, he was behind Guts Man, slowly walking towards Gamma.

“Wh--hey! Get back here!”

Guts Man lunged after Break Man, the other robot’s armor now turning green and white. Four large leaves whipped around Break Man, deflecting Guts Man’s attack before flying out at him, slicing through the small gaps in his armor. Break Man then lifted his buster and activated its beam, knocking Guts Man flat on his back.

“Hold, villain!” Fire Man declared as he bounded forward. “Whatever purpose brought you here, I will not allow you to succeed!”

Break Man’s armor turned white and gray. He and Fire Man both attacked at the same time, Fire Man’s flaming shots soaring high while Break Man generated several bubbles which travelled along the ground. Break Man pulled his shield around just in time, but Fire Man was taken by surprise, the water-based attack shocking him still. Guts Man pushed himself to his feet, but now Break Man’s armor was brown and yellow--he generated a circular saw blade in each hand, and then hurled them straight into the chests of both his opponents, dropping them instantly. After pausing to glare at Light once again, Break Man continued towards Gamma. Activating his laser, he swept it through the scaffolding, setting the gargantuan robot free with a thunderous rain of rubble.

“Is he trying to take Gamma?” Rock said. “We have to stop him!”

Elec Man held him back, saying, “How exactly are you going to do that? You’ll only get yourself killed!”

“But…”

Break Man took a few steps towards the two doctors. Wily cowered, but Light just kept staring at him, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“I thought you were lost forever,” Light said. “Blues...you’re still alive...I’m so glad…”

At this, Break Man froze. Wily said, “Thomas, it’s Break Man! He’s attacking! What are we going to do?”

A smile came to Light’s face. “Blues...I’m so happy you’re alright…”

Wily looked up at him. With a sigh, he said, “Hrm...hardly the reaction I was hoping for.” Now perfectly calm, Wily came forward. “Nonetheless, excellent work, Break Man! Not that I expected anything less.”

Break Man nodded. Rock said, “Wait...what? Didn’t you say you were the one working for Break Man?”

“Neh heh heh, foolish little robot. That was nothing but a genius ruse to gain Light’s trust! I’m the true mastermind here! Nehahahahaha!”

Finally emerging from his trance, Light furrowed his brow as he turned to face Wily. “What? Albert, is--”

He whirled in a fury. “That’s _Wily_! You will refer to me with respect, Light--never again with familiarity! It’s been _agonizing_ playing along all this time! I thought my skin would crawl right off my bones!” Wily grunted, but then his mouth curled into a smirk. “It was worth it, however. Using your designs, your resources, your labor, I was able to construct this unstoppable war machine in record time! My brilliant plan was a success! And once I unleash Gamma upon the world, not even your precious little lab assistant will be able to stop me! If she even survived her trip to Mars, that is! Nehahahaha!”

“I’m just fine, Wily!”

He winced as Roll’s garbled voice sprang from Light’s terminal. “Rrgh, of course. I knew I should’ve sent the other batch…”

“Dr. Light, are you okay?” Roll asked. “I made it back to the moon and I’m closing in on the transport coordinates! I’ll be there in just a minute!”

“I think not! I took the liberty of encrypting Light’s transporter program--it’ll take him quite a while to get things working again!”

“What’s wrong with you, Wily?! We trusted you!”

Wily waved his hand, turning his back on the console. “Bah, I don’t have to indulge this prattle! All I need to know before I leave is whether or not you retrieved those Energy Elements for me, Roll.”

“There’s no way I’m turning them over to you!”

Wily’s smirk spread into a grin. “Yes, I thought you might say that. Break Man!”

Break Man was suddenly right in front of Rock. He grabbed the robot by the arm and yanked him in Wily’s direction, but then paused. Turning his head, he saw Elec Man standing next to him, two electrified fingers pointed straight at him.

“...Let Rock go,” Elec Man said. “I won’t ask again.”

Break Man let go. Then he was behind Elec Man, stabbing a curved metal boomerang into his back. Rock cried out as Elec Man dropped to his knees. Fighting to stay online, Elec Man fired a bolt of electricity at his foe, only to have it blocked by another set of leaves. Break Man’s armor then turned orange and white. When he aimed his buster at Elec Man, it fired a projectile with a blinking orb on one end and a sharp point on the other, which buried itself in Elec Man’s back. Break Man then kicked him aside, grabbed Rock once again, and dragged him over towards Wily.

“No...I won’t…!” Elec Man struggled to lift his arm, preparing one more attack. The item stuck to his back then detonated.

“Elec Man!” Rock shouted. “No! Let go of me, you…!”

“What’s happening?” Roll asked. “What are you doing?”

“I was thinking a trade might appeal to your sense of fairness,” Wily said. “You give me the Energy Elements, and I’ll return your brother Rock to you!”

“Roll, don’t worry about me!” Rock said. Break Man clamped a hand over his mouth before he could say anything else.

“Oh, you really should. If I don’t get my hands on those Elements, I’ll reduce him to scrap metal!”

“Wily,” Roll said, “you--”

“ _Wily_!”

The entire room went dead silent at Light’s sudden shout. He leveled a stern gaze at Wily--the look that may not have been harsh in its own right, but out of place as it was on Light’s kind face, the jarring, eerie feeling it generated multiplied its weight exponentially.

“I won’t forgive you if you harm my children.”

“Ah, so that’s what it takes to get you mad,” Wily said. “How interesting! Don’t you think, Break Man?”

The red Robot Master said nothing, only tightening his grip on Rock.

“Blues,” Light said, “I--”

“Save it, Light!” Wily interrupted. “You have my demands. I’ll be waiting for my Elements!”

Wily pulled a small device from his pocket. At the press of a button, he, Break Man, Rock, and Gamma all disappeared into thin air. Light’s fierce expression vanished as well, replaced by a look of absolute terror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Probably not a big surprise. I figured Wily saying it was all a mistake and getting a second chance would become less likely to work the more schemes he attempted, so I wanted to get him building Gamma with Light right away and prioritized the MM3 adaptation for this arc. But as I said before, the MM2 Robot Masters are still set to make an appearance…  
> -Some good news: things have slowed down at work again, AND I only have two more weeks until I complete my Bachelor’s Degree! This should give me more free time and mental energy (especially with the decrease in stress that comes from finally getting that wretched horse out of the hospital), and I hope to turn that towards finishing this arc first and foremost. I have a draft for 2-4 and hope to post the final version next week, and 2-5 is well under way! Thank you for being patient with me.


	7. Fight 2-4

Roll flew down into the lab on Rush’s back, nervously surveying the destruction. Light was still hard at work repairing the transporter system, meanwhile LaLinde busied herself patching up Elec Man, Guts Man, and Fire Man. Tempo stood not far away, eyes fixed on the broken scaffolding until she heard Roll land.

“Roll!” Tempo said. “I-I’m sorry...they…”

“Are you alright?” Roll asked.

“I’m...I’m fine. I was upstairs when it happened. I...wasn’t able to stop Break Man...and now, Rock…” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

Roll came forward, gently setting a hand on Tempo’s arm. “Tempo, you don’t have to apologize. I know you’re still healing, and trying to force your way past that is only going to make things worse. I’ll get Rock back--everything’s going to be okay.”

Tempo slowly nodded. Roll turned to LaLinde, asking, “How are they?”

“I’ve only been able to make rudimentary repairs for now,” LaLinde said. “They’ve stabilized, but they’re going to need quite a bit of work as soon as we have the chance.”

Lifting his head, Guts Man said, “Sorry Roll...we weren’t as prepared to deal with the guy as we thought…”

“I know you tried your best,” Roll said. “Thank you, all of you. Leave the rest to me.”

“Roll,” Fire Man said. “If you face that fiend Break Man, be wary! He has the ability to switch between a myriad of weapons, much as you do!”

“...I see. Thanks, I’ll be careful.” She finally looked to Elec Man, easily the worst-damaged of the three: his back had been blown open, revealing his inner circuitry, which LaLinde was carefully removing shrapnel from. “I can’t believe he’d go so far…are you awake, Elec Man?”

“I am,” he said quietly. “...It’s strange. In a way, I’m actually a little relieved to know I’m not all that powerful after all. But, until Rock is saved, I suppose that’s an awful way to think, isn’t it?”

Roll shook her head. “Not at all. I _will_ save him. There’s nothing wrong with thinking ahead.”

Elec Man chuckled. Roll then made her way over to where Light worked, waiting patiently until he acknowledged her.

“This is all my fault,” Light said.

“Dr. Light…”

“If I hadn’t let myself be fooled so easily, Rock would still be safe. Now Wily has him, and Gamma, and…” He trailed off.

Roll hesitated. “Dr. Light...about Break Man…”

Light’s hands paused between keys. “Originally, his name was Blues. DLN-000, Blues. He was the first prototype Robot Master I designed, with help from Noelle. In almost every way, he was a resounding success...however, his power core had a flaw that caused it to degrade over time. I revised the design and planned to repair him, but when I went to do so, he had vanished without a trace. It was only after that that we constructed you, Rock, and Tempo.”

Roll remained where she was, quietly absorbing all of this.

Light turned to look her in the eyes. “I’m sorry if it seems like I was hiding this from you. With his core in such a state, I thought Blues would have gone inactive long ago...I didn’t want to burden you with the idea of a brother you would never be able to meet. And I…” He sighed. “I thought it was best to grieve and move forward. If only I’d known…”

Light returned to his work. Roll said, “But, I don’t understand. How is he still active? Why is he working with Wily? And the things he was saying on the moon…”

“I’m afraid I don’t have those answers. The only one who does is Blues himself.” A window appeared on-screen, prompting a grunt from Light. “Darn...I’m afraid it’ll take me a little longer to restore the transporter. If you’re going after Rock, you should recharge while you can.”

Roll nodded. “Alright. I promise I’ll get Rock back...and Blues, too.”

Light stopped abruptly. He smiled, but it quickly turned into a tired frown. “I hope so, Roll...I certainly hope.”

***

A handful of flickering lights did what they could to illuminate the lab, or rather the layer of dust that had settled over it. Rock sat in a cage nestled in the corner of the room, and not far away, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, was Break Man. The distant sound of machinery was all that filled the air, until Rock finally looked up and stared at Break Man.

“Why did Dr. Light call you ‘Blues’?”

Break Man grunted. “That’s the name he gave me. I don’t use it anymore.”

“So Dr. Light built you. Why are you working for Dr. Wily, then? He doesn’t care about robots--”

“You think Light does?” Break Man turned to meet his gaze. “Sure he acts like it. But once you’re not of use to him anymore, he’ll reprogram you without a second thought. Just like he tried to do to me.”

Rock blinked. “...What?”

Break Man looked away. “He decided I was defective, so he tried to reprogram me. Tried to destroy who I am and overwrite me with something he thought was more palatable. Seems like he wasted no time in replacing me. And now, he’s turned Roll from a lab assistant into a war machine…”

“Being weaponized was Roll’s idea. Dr. Light was against it--he only went through with it because there was no other option.”

Break Man scoffed.

“And when Dr. LaLinde removed Tempo’s emotions, he was against that too. Dr. Light cares about all robots, he would never--”

“For all you know, those memories might not even be real!” Break Man shouted, turning suddenly. “What proof do you have that he didn’t reprogram you too?”

Rock thought for a moment, and then said, “I guess...I just trust him.”

Break Man threw his hands up.

“If you really think Dr. Light would do that to you...I’m sorry. But there must be some kind of misunderstanding. I’m sure if you just talk to him--”

“I have nothing to say to him!”

“But you’ll talk to Wily? Wily _does_ reprogram robots!”

Break Man averted his gaze, quietly replying, “I...have my reasons.”

“So you hate doctors who reprogram robots, except for Wily? How does that make sense?”

“He didn’t reprogram _me_!”

Rock gritted his teeth. “Is that it? Then why were you acting so worried about me and Roll?”

Break Man said nothing. A screen on a nearby console flared to life, and Wily’s voice came from it: “Break Man! How is our guest doing?”

“...Fine,” Break Man said.

“Good! Roll should be arriving soon, and we want to keep him in good condition to get those Energy Elements back! Neheheh...Gamma’s already so wonderfully powerful! I can’t even picture it with thrice the energy!”

Break Man glanced at Rock. He took a step towards the console, but before he could say anything, red light flooded the room to the sound of a blaring alarm.

“Ah, that must be her! I’ll have the others get the door--you just sit tight for the moment. It won’t be long now until we take our revenge on Light, nehehahahahaha!”

***

An imposing castle in the shape of a skull towered above Roll and Rush, flanked by smaller warehouses and radio dishes that formed a tight grip around it. Several mass-produced robots had tried to fend her off, but she had not allowed them to even slow her down as she stormed towards the gate and broke it open with a Hard Knuckle.

“Wily!” Roll shouted, her voice echoing off the walls of the dim entrance hall. “I’m here for my brothers!”

She ducked, only narrowly avoiding a thin boomerang as it cut through the air. Standing in the center of the room was a Robot Master with bright red armor, a golden crest decorating his helmet and similarly-shaped spikes jutting off from his arms. Grinning, he said, “Took you long enough. I could’ve gotten here in a fraction of the time!”

Roll aimed her buster. “Where’s Rock? Where’s Blues?”

“Hey now, don’t be rude! The name’s Quick Man, and I’ll have your full attention!”

Roll fired a warning shot. Quick Man darted out of the way, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. He sent Roll sprawling with a punch, and then leapt back, folding his arms and chuckling to himself. Rush chased after him, but he backed away just fast enough to remain out of the dog’s reach.

“I don’t have time for this,” Roll said as she picked herself up. “Please just let me through!”

“Tch! You don’t seem to understand the position you’re in.”

Quick Man hopped over Rush and dashed at Roll. She fired a charge shot, making him veer off-course, and followed immediately with a Magnet Missile, the homing projectile very nearly finding its mark. Roll stayed on her feet as Quick Man hit her again, managing to fire a Gemini Laser into the room. Distracted, Quick Man was knocked back towards Rush, who tripped the robot and pinned him to the floor. He swiftly pushed the dog back and began hurling boomerangs at Roll, until the Gemini Laser struck him in the back and stunned him. Roll prepared to launch a Hard Knuckle. The next thing she knew, however, pain was flaring in her side, and she fumbled, missing her shot. Quick Man raised a glare, but it wasn’t directed at Roll.

“Idiot!” he said. “I told you I’d handle her!”

Roll looked over her shoulder to see another Robot Master standing there, one with blue armor and a dome of yellow glass atop his head. Shrugging one shoulder, he said, “You weren’t doing a particularly good job of it.”

“Just go, Flash Man! I’m more than enough!”

Roll fired at Flash Man. Suddenly, he was standing a few feet to the side of where he had just been, and Roll realized she had taken damage again. Smiling at her, he said, “You’ll have to do better than that.”

Quick Man attacked her before she could try again. Leaping onto Rush’s back, she headed towards the hall’s ceiling, circling around while weaving between shots. “That ability’s going to be trouble...we need to deal with him, or we won’t get very far.”

First firing a Gemini Laser, Roll began dropping Search Snakes as she passed over her enemies, forcing them on the defensive. Both were fast enough to avoid the attacks, but it seemed Roll was successfully staying out of their range. She equipped Needle Cannon and waited until just after Flash Man moved--the spike made a direct hit, knocking Flash Man into a group of Search Snakes, and Roll grinned.

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

She turned to see Quick Man leaping at the wall, bouncing off of it with all his might to launch himself towards Roll. Knowing she wouldn’t have time to shoot him down, Roll switched to Top Spin instead, smacking Quick Man away the second he reached her and into the path of the Gemini Laser as he plummeted. Roll turned to find Flash Man, but realized she had lost track of him. Rush whimpered suddenly, veering towards the wall; below, Roll finally noticed Flash Man, weapon pointed directly up. Gently as she could, Roll pulled Rush out of his crash course and into a freefall.

“We have to get the jump on him,” she said. “Ready, boy?”

With a bark, Rush stuck his legs out and braced himself. Flash Man aimed for where he would land and waited. Unbeknownst to him, Rush’s parts began to shift, and when he hit the ground, the part of his back that Roll stood on sprang up, launching her high into the air. Roll saw a quick change in Flash Man’s demeanor and a scorch mark on the wall. She then threw a series of Shadow Blades, splitting open Flash Man’s dome and causing him to drop to the floor.

“B...Blast it!” Flash Man said. “I won’t…”

Sparks burst from his head as he tried to use his weapon again. He returned to the floor, and this time did not get up. Roll copied his weapon and went to Rush’s side, making sure the dog was okay, before being struck in the shoulder by one of Quick Man’s boomerangs. She whirled on him, but stopped when she saw the state he was in: his breathing was labored, his eyes were flickering, and he seemed barely able to stay on his feet.

“What’s wrong?” Roll asked. “You can’t have taken that much damage.”

“Shut up!” Quick Man said. “I’m still in great shape!”

He rushed straight at her. Roll surprised him with a Spark Shock, bringing him to an abrupt halt, and said, “Just stop it! If we keep fighting, you’re just going to get yourself hurt!”

Quick Man just sneered at her. He prepared to charge again, and with a sigh, Roll fired a Hard Knuckle, stopping him for good. Copying his data, she ran across the room and into the narrow hallway beyond. Ascending a staircase, she found herself in a chamber with several generators connected by a web of cables, and instantly the door on the other end opened on its own. In stepped a Robot Master with thick orange armor, arms ending in drills rather than hands.

“Wow, you managed to get this far already?” he said. “I’m impressed! But your little raid ends here!”

He fired a projectile with a blinking orb on one end as he charged. Roll evaded, saying, “I don’t want to fight! Just tell me where Rock is and--”

The projectile exploded behind her. Now upon her, the robot began to swing wildly, Roll just barely able to avoid his strikes. Rush headbutted him in the side, disrupting his balance, and Roll repelled him with Top Spin, running past him for the exit. Before she could reach it, however, a wall of fire sprang into being, blocking the path. Out from behind a generator emerged a robot whose body was encased in a box-like shell of yellow armor, eyeing Roll warily.

“So that’s where you ran off to, Heat Man!” said the Robot Master that had attacked her first. “Could’ve said something sooner!”

“Like you gave me a chance, Crash Man! You just rushed in headlong like always.”

“Aw, whatever. Let’s just do our job, huh?”

They both advanced. Roll decided to try out the Time Stopper, but it had no effect on her foes. Dodging flames and bombs, Roll and Rush moved from the flame wall to the side of the room to have more space, though their opponents remained right on their heels. Using Rush’s spring, Roll launched herself back at the other robots, knocking them both flat with a single Top Spin. The flames died down slightly, so Roll took aim at Heat Man again. Crash Man suddenly tackled her, knocking her aside and planting one of his bombs on her arm. Roll tried futilely to remove it, and Crash Man just laughed.

“Let’s see how durable you are!” he said.

Thinking fast, Roll pointed her fist and activated Hard Knuckle. Her limb detached, carrying the bomb with it; Crash Man was able to doge, but Heat Man, taken by surprise, was only able to close the lid of his armor as the bomb exploded in his face. The blast knocked her arm off its return course, so Roll ran forward to grab it but was intercepted by a kick from Crash Man.

“Well...not bad. But I doubt you can keep it up for long!”

Roll forced him back with a Gemini Laser. Rush scooped up her arm and brought it to her, allowing her to reattach it as she examined the flame wall again, now little more than embers around the doorframe. Back on his feet, Heat Man said, “Why you…! That does it!”

Flames enveloped his whole body. With a sudden burst of speed, Heat Man rocketed forward, colliding with Roll and launching her straight through the door. Crash Man nullified the Gemini Laser with one of his bombs, and then said, “Heh, _I’m_ the one who charges in headlong?”

“W-Well...she made me mad!”

Crash Man laughed. After waiting a moment, he said, “Hey...is she...coming back?”

Heat Man blinked. The two of them ran forward, chasing Roll through the next hallway to an open area with a catwalk suspended over a churning pool of water. Just as she was reaching for a ladder, one of Crash Man’s bombs burrowed into her arm.

“Not so fast!”

Roll spun and equipped Hard Knuckle again. When she attempted to fire, however, she realized that the weapon had run out of energy. Her eyes widened as the bomb went off. The blast knocked her off the catwalk and into the water below, though thankfully it wasn’t as deep as it had initially appeared.

_How did I use up Hard Knuckle so quickly? I should have plenty more uses left…_

Another bomb shot through the water. Roll got as far away from it as she could. She looked for a way to climb out, but then she noticed a form swimming straight at her. Just able to throw herself clear, Roll got a good look at the robot that passed her: his armor was green, with fins on his feet and an apparatus like a diving mask covering his face. He turned around quickly, firing a buster shot at Roll as she tried to balance herself in the water. She retaliated, missing, and then the robot launched a large bubble at her, forcing her to kick off the ground and push herself out of the way. Unable to redirect herself, she braced for her foe’s next attack. At that moment, Rush came shooting through the water in his rocket form, knocking back the enemy robot before circling back to bring Roll to the surface.

“Thanks boy,” she said. “I’ve gotta be more careful.”

“See?” Crash Man said, gesturing towards her. “I knew Bubble Man wouldn’t be able to take her out.”

The aquatic robot poked his head out of the water, saying, “Hey, I’m not done yet! And it’s not like you’re doing any better!”

As they argued, Roll quickly checked how much energy her weapons had remaining, not wanting to run out by surprise again. Glancing over the list, she thought, _They’re all lower than usual. Is something wrong with the Variable Weapons System? I guess it’s never been used on this many weapons before...maybe past a certain limit, it has less space to devote to each individual energy store?_

Heat Man, apparently the only one still paying attention, lobbed a fireball at Roll. Flying out of the way, she fired her buster as she observed her foes, deciding to save her special weapons until an opening presented itself. The crossfire went on too long for Crash Man’s taste: charging suddenly, he leapt off the catwalk straight at Roll. She dodged the bombs he fired, equipped Top Spin, and kicked him into the water, narrowly missing Bubble Man in the process. Landing on the platform, she took aim at Heat Man.

“Ah, great,” Heat Man grumbled. “Well, don’t think I’ll make it easy for you!”

Flames surrounded him again as he charged forward. Roll flipped overhead and threw a Shadow Blade as Heat Man’s dash ended, then another as she landed to stun him out of making another attack. However, she ran out of energy for the weapon, and the time it took to switch gave the angered Robot Master time to barrel forward in a bright blaze. Roll slid out of the way, and Heat Man collided with the railing of the catwalk, tearing through it and ending up in open air.

“Uh-oh…!”

Roll ran towards the edge, but by the time she got there Heat Man had already hit the water. A small explosion of steam went up as his body disappeared. Seconds later, a Crash Bomb shot up out of the water, Roll just barely able to stumble back in time. She picked herself up and ran for the exit, but Bubble Man shot out of the water to intercept her, using one of his bubbles to knock her into the water as well.

“There you are!” Crash Man said, swinging around to face Roll as she floated towards the bottom. “Enough playing around!”

Rush tried to rescue Roll again, but this time Bubble Man was able to hold him off. Roll twisted around Crash Man’s attack as best she could, and then rammed her buster into the side of his head, unleashing a charge shot on contact and sending him spinning away. As she shot Bubble Man back, she noticed the deactivated body of Heat Man nearby; figuring getting a new weapon was the best way to refill her ammunition at the moment, she copied his data and then turned to keep an eye on Crash Man. More bombs came her way, which she easily wove between to return fire with Quick Boomerangs. Bubble Man tried launching a surprise attack, but Rush alerted Roll, and she stopped him short with a Spark Shock. With a shout, Crash Man lunged forward as fast as he could. Seeing an easy opening, Roll ducked, thrust her buster out, and delivered a burst of Atomic Fire directly into Crash Man’s chest to finish him off.

“Urgh...this ain’t looking good…” Bubble Man said, keeping his distance as Roll copied the Crash Bomb.

“Then just let me through,” Roll said. “I don’t have any interest in fighting you! This--”

She cried out as a circular saw blade cut through the water, slicing across her shoulder. Firing two Magnet Missiles out of the water, she leapt onto Rush and made for the surface, keeping a close eye on Bubble Man as she went. Waiting above was a Robot Master with red and yellow armor, accented by a splash of blue and saw-like spikes on his shoulders and helmet.

“Let me pass!”

Drawing another saw, the other robot said, “Don’t think so.”

Roll waited until the last second to dart to the side. At the same time, Bubble Man again leapt from the water in an attempt to surprise her, ultimately crashing to the catwalk as the saw cut straight through him. Wincing, Roll stopped briefly to copy his weapon before returning her attention to the newcomer. She used a Crash Bomb to drive him back into the hall and give herself some cover, and then fired her last Gemini Laser into the confined space to further restrict her foe’s movements. Crouching low, Roll then commanded Rush to charge, and they rammed right into the robot and carried him down the length of the hallway into the next chamber. The walls here were an eerie purple, and conveyor belts and pulleys ran across the room in every direction. Waiting in its center were two Robot Masters: one that appeared to be made of wood, and one with a large blue body with a giant fan rotor built into his chest. The latter unleashed a gust of wind the moment he saw Roll, blowing her off-course before she could get too close.

“Hmhm, well done, Metal Man,” he said. “I knew you’d let us down.”

The robot Roll had carried in with her sat up and rubbed his head, saying, “Keep quiet for once, Air Man. Wood Man, can I get some backup?”

The wooden contraption beat his chest. “Of course! We’ll give it our all to stop her here!”

A dozen or so leaves suddenly materialized in the room, slowly going from ceiling to floor, while Metal Man leapt onto a conveyor belt and resumed flinging his blades. Roll took evasive action as she tried to spot a path through them. However, Air Man began to spin his propeller, and the leaves were all pushed directly towards Roll, leaving tiny cuts all over her armor. As she struggled to recover, one of Metal Man’s saws clipped her leg, making her falter long enough for Air Man to summon a small whirlwind that hurled her into the wall. She slid to the floor, dazed until another saw cut her shoulder.

_Alright...I don’t have any choice but to fight. I’ve got to focus, or they’ll destroy me._

She slid to the side to avoid another leaf-filled gust. Unleashing all her remaining Search Snakes and Quick Boomerangs, Roll leapt onto Rush and flew into battle. Air Man focused on sweeping away the snakes while Metal Man leapt from one belt to another to dodge boomerangs, so she focused buster fire on Wood Man. Leaves circled around him, blocking her shots. She tried to hit Air Man with a Spark Shock while he was distracted, but Wood Man leapt in the way, the electricity doing nothing against his wooden shell. Banking hard to avoid Air Man’s retaliation, Roll aimed for Metal Man and fired her final Magnet Missile just as he attacked her. Metal Man was carried into the projectile by the conveyor belt he stood on, meanwhile Roll was able to avoid the blade and turned back to Wood Man. He summoned his shield again when he saw her taking aim, but the Needle Cannon pierced straight through his guard, burying itself deep in his armor. Air Man was quick to counter, knocking Roll off of Rush and back towards Metal Man.

“Have to admit, you’re a handful,” Metal Man said. “But I’ll cut you down just the same!”

Roll slid as fast as she could to dodge the blades being thrown at her, not sure how much more damage she could sustain. Gradually, she closed the distance between her and her enemy, almost getting hit numerous times by Wood Man and Air Man’s support attacks and ordering Rush to keep his distance for now. When she got too close, Metal Man jumped--and Roll stuck a Crash Bomb to the floor right where he would land, the explosion ripping his body apart. After taking the Metal Blade for her own, Roll rejoined with Rush and circled towards the remaining two opponents.

“Darn...this is bad,” Wood Man said quietly.

Air Man rolled his eyes. “You can always quit if you’re too afraid.”

“I didn’t say anything about quitting!”

Roll equipped Bubble Lead as she dodged incoming fire, sending the projectiles across the floor ahead of her. Both her foes were easily able to pop the bubbles before they reached them, but it did distract them just long enough for Roll to empty her remaining Needle Cannon shots into Wood Man. Air Man did his best to force her back, but the Metal Blade was able to slice through the gale he summoned, causing him to recoil. Leaves filled the chamber; Roll burned her way through them with the Atomic Fire, then used Bubble Lead again to make Wood Man use his shield. She dug a Metal Blade into the ground to keep from being blown away by Air Man, and before Wood Man got another chance to act, she unleashed a torrent of flame upon him, near-instantly incinerating the robot until only his scant few metallic components remained.

“Well...this is unexpected,” Air Man said as Roll grabbed onto Wood Man’s remains. “Seems it truly is all down to me.”

“You can walk away,” Roll said. “Please, I’ve had enough of fighting…”

“Hmhm, yes, I’m sure you have. I’d rather defeat you at your best, but I _will_ defeat you just the same.”

Roll activated the Leaf Shield, the barrier somehow able to repel Air Man’s next gust. She quickly switched to Metal Blade, but despite being so bulky, Air Man was able to avoid the saws and send Roll flying with a whirlwind.

_Stay focused,_ Roll thought, rolling as she hit the ground and coming up in a crouch. _I have one Spark Shock left. Metal Blade seems pretty efficient so I can probably still get a few uses out of that. Time Stopper probably won’t work on him either, and Leaf Shield...too soon to tell. I really hope he’s the last one…_

Roll fired her buster as she advanced. Air Man deflected her shots with whirlwinds before trying to make a counterattack. Roll slid clear, only letting up as long as she had to. As Air Man once again moved to attack, Rush leapt at him from behind, holding in his teeth one of the Metal Blades Roll had thrown earlier and using it to slash at Air Man’s back. The Robot Master spun on him, and Roll seized the opportunity: she used Spark Shock to electrocute Air Man, and managed to land one more Metal Blade before Air Man knocked Rush away.

“Rush!”

“Worry about yourself!”

Roll put up a Leaf Shield as Air Man unleashed all the wind he could muster. Even with its protection, she could feel herself being pushed back, so she put her arms forward out of instinct. As she did, the leaves encircling her broke formation and dashed forward, cutting their way through the wind and into Air Man’s propeller. Air Man’s eyes widened as his blades ground to a halt.

“Ngh...curses…”

Roll didn’t waste her chance. She used up Metal Blade to wear Air Man down, and when he finally managed a counterattack, she blocked with Leaf Shield before sending it slicing through him again. Air Man tried desperately to get his propeller moving, but eventually his mechanisms couldn’t take the stress, and the fan blades burst from him in a cloud of smoke. Roll held firm until Air Man stopped moving completely, and then dropped onto all fours and sighed heavily. She stared at the floor, shaking, unable for the longest time to say even a single word.

“...It’s...too much…”

Rush gently nudged her. She looked up, the dog licking her face; he then opened the compartment on his back to reveal two tanks--one labeled with an “E”, the other with a “W”.

“...Right. I have to keep going.” She scratched Rush’s ear, smiling just a little. “Thanks, boy. It helps that I don’t have to do this alone.”

She got to her feet and drank both tanks. Then, she copied Air Man’s weapon, faced the corridor ahead, and ran forward.

_Rock...Blues...I’m almost there._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I still wanted Roll to have a chance to use the MM2 weapons, but to prevent her from becoming too overpowered (and further incentivize not stockpiling them going forward), the VWS can only hold eight weapons before it begins reducing the ammo of each weapon available. Since a lot of these arcs will be combining the boss rosters of multiple games, this seemed like a decision that needed to be made as soon as possible.  
> -Insert “Can’t Beat Airman” joke here.  
> -And I’ve actually got a draft for 2-5! I’ll post that next week, and that’ll wrap this arc!

**Author's Note:**

> -Today is Mega Man’s 32nd anniversary, so what better day to kick off a Mega Man project I’ve been planning for so long! With this, I’m officially embarking on the Roll-Reversal AU project, a collection of fics that rework the various Mega Man series with their respective Roll as the main character! That’s not going to be the only change, of course: I’ll be taking several other liberties in the adaptation, sort of like rewriting each series in my own style using the change of lead as a starting point. If you’ve read my Shooting Star Sonia series, it’ll be similar to that, though these won’t be as in-depth as that series—for Classic alone that’d mean 11 full-length stories, and I just don’t know if I have that much in me. Super Fighting Roll will be a single story divided into self-contained arcs, adapting (and in most cases mixing) elements of the Classic games to streamline the process and avoid getting repetitive. For the time being, the plan is to write a complete arc, then post it chapter-by-chapter, because I really like having regular updates and this seems the best way to achieve that. This first arc is only three chapters, and for the anniversary I’ll be posting them in rapid succession with 1-2 tomorrow and 1-3 the day after. I hope you enjoy!  
> -One of the first big changes you see is the inclusion of elements from the Archie Mega Man comic. I won’t be leaning too far into it, but I really like Tempo and feel she and LaLinde have something to add to this iteration of the story as well, though for now it may feel like something of a slow burn. Trust me, I’ve got a plan!  
> -Also, yes, Rush is around earlier, but he won’t be equipped to assist Roll in the field until next arc. Here he starts out as a regular family pet robot dog.  
> -Roll’s combat design is actually taken from official artwork that was used on the Mega Man Twitter to promote Mega Man 11. With the pose used it’s hard to tell, but I think the design may have also featured a heart-shaped chest plate? I decided to leave that out though—she already looks a lot like Harp Note without it, and I didn’t want anyone thinking I was just copying her design here.  
> -One thing I was considering doing is what MM11 did: changing Roll’s helmet and arm whenever she uses the Variable Weapon System. However, the idea of doing that for, what, 80? More Robot Masters sounds like a daunting task, and one that will probably turn out repetitive designs fairly quick. Plus, several of the color palettes used for Special Weapons don’t actually match the Robot Master they’re taken from, so I’d have to reconcile that. Maybe Roll will get an upgrade in a future arc if I change my mind, but for now I’m keeping it simple.


End file.
